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Akhtar Mohammad Mansour (196821 May 2016) was an Afghan militant leader who served as the second
supreme leader A supreme leader or supreme ruler typically refers to powerful figures with an unchallenged authority, such as autocrats, dictators to spiritual and revolutionary leaders. Historic examples are Adolf Hitler () of Nazi Germany, Francisco ...
of the
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
. Succeeding the founding leader,
Mullah Omar Muhammad Umar Mujahid (196023 April 2013), commonly known as Mullah Omar or Muhammad Omar, was an Afghan militant leader and founder and the first leader of the Taliban from 1994 until his death in 2013. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the T ...
, he was the supreme leader from July 2015 to May 2016, when he was killed in a US drone strike in
Balochistan, Pakistan Balochistan (; ; , ) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Khybe ...
.
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
stated that Mansour was killed because he was planning attacks on US targets in
Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
. Obama hoped Mansour's death would lead to the Taliban joining a
peace process A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...
.


Personal life

Mansour was born sometime during either 1960, 1963, 1965 or 1968. According to the Taliban, he is thought to have been born either in a village named Kariz or another village named Band-i-Taimoor, both of which are situated within the
Maiwand District Maiwand District is situated in the western part of the Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Helmand Province to the west, Ghorak District to the north, Khakrez District to the northeast, Zhari District to the east, and Panjwayi District to ...
of Kandahar Province in southern
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. The biography released on a Taliban website showed his date of birth as 1347 in the solar Hijri calendar, which corresponds to 1968. This year is corroborated by S. Mehsud, of the C.T.C.
West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
. According to
Ahmed Rashid Ahmed Rashid (Urdu:; born 1948 in Rawalpindi) is a Pakistani journalist and best-selling foreign policy author of several books about Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia. Life and career Rashid was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He attende ...
, Mansour belonged to the Alizai tribe, but other sources claim that he was of the Ishaqzai tribe,The other sources are: Qazi, Giustozzi; *c.f. also M. Martin �
text (p.145)
published by Oxford University Press, 1 July 2014
The Diplomat Magazine August 12, 2015
– Kambaiz Rafi "...Mansour's swiftly appointed first deputy, Mawlawi Haibatullah, is from his Ishaqzai tribe, enraging Zakir who belongs to the staunchly rival Alizai tribe..."
in any case, both the Alizai and the Ishaqzai are of the
Durrani The Durrānī (, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes, tribal confederation of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan (Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, ...
line of
Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...
. According to the Taliban, Mansoor was educated at a village
mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
and joined primary school at about the age of seven.(sourced originally a
J. Goldstein / The New York Times Company
Mansour is alleged to have owned a cell-phone company, among other investments, and is claimed to have been wealthy as a result of his profiting from the dealings of Ishaqzai drug dealers. According to Richard Spencer of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', Mansour performed his business operations via a residence located in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
. An undamaged
Pakistani passport Pakistani passports are issued to citizens of Pakistan for the purpose of international travel. The Directorate General of Immigration & Passports holds the responsibility for passport issuance, under the regulation of the Ministry of Interior ...
in the name of "Wali Muhammad" was recovered near the burned-out car at the scene of the drone attack that killed him; the passport is believed to have belonged to Mansour.


Soviet war and mujahideen era

Sometime in 1985, he joined the
jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
i war against the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...
, participating in the
Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi (; 1920–21 April 2002) was an Afghan politician and mujahideen leader who was the founder and leader of the Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami ( Islamic Revolution Movement) political party and paramilitary group. He served as ...
group. During the same time Mohammad Omar was a commander of an organization within Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi. Mansour participated in the war against the
Soviet military The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...
within
Maiwand Maiwand is a village in Afghanistan within the Maywand District of Kandahar Province. It is located 50 miles northwest of Kandahar, on the main Kandahar–Lashkargah road. The area is irrigated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority. ...
, Sang-e-Hessar, Zangawat and other parts of the city, and the
Pashmul Zhari (, ) is a district in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Alternative spellings include Zheley (due to transliteration from Pashto), Zharey, Zharay, Zheri, or Zheray. The district was created in 2004 from land that was formerly part of May ...
area of the Panjwai district, under the command of Mohammad Hassan Akhond, apparently commanded by him at least while fighting at the last location. During 1987 he was apparently injured, sustaining 13 separate wounds while stationed at Sanzary area of Panjwai district in Kandahar, according to the Taliban. Known as one of the prominent warriors, Mansour joined the Maulvi Obaidullah Ishaqzai group in 1987 but later Ishaqzai surrendered to
Nur ul-Haq Ulumi Nur ul-Haq Ulumi (born 15 August 1941) is an Afghan politician, who served as Minister of Interior from 2015 to 2016, and as a Member of the House of the People from 2005 to 2010 representing Kandahar. He founded and previously led the National ...
, now the interior minister. Soon afterwards, he migrated to
Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...
in Pakistan. After the war, Mansour resumed his religious education in different seminaries and later shifted to
Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...
, Pakistan, where he joined Jamia Mohammadia at the Jalozai Refugee camp. He was a student at
Darul Uloom Haqqania Darul Uloom Haqqania or Jamia Dar al-Ulum Haqqania (Pashto/) is an Islamic seminary ( darul uloom or madrasa) in the town of Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwestern Pakistan. The seminary propagates the Hanafi Deobandi scho ...
madrassa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning. ...
. He was apparently a popular student, during his time at the madrassa from 1994 to 1995, located within the Jalozai refugee camp for Afghans near Peshawar, according to Afghan journalist Sami Yousafzai, who met him during that time.


Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

After the capture of
Kandahar airport Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, also referred to as Kandahar International Airport (, ), and by some military officials as Kandahar Airfield (KAF), is located in the Daman District, Afghanistan, Daman District of Kandahar Province in Afgh ...
he was appointed as director general, or otherwise termed, security officer in charge, of the Kandahar airport, a role which encompassed both the air force and air-defence systems of
Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
. After the taking of
Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
during 1996 he was made director of Ariana airlines, and additionally Minister of the Emirate for
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...
and
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
, by Mohammed Omar, within the Taliban's
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
, together with his overseeing the Emirates' air force and air-defence systems, from his additional appointment as head of these within the ministry of defence. Notably, while minister, Mansour organized 24-hour flight services within Afghanistan, thereby organizing the provision of facilities for
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
to go to
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
as
Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
via air-flight. During 1996, Mullah Omar appointed Farid Ahmed to station manager of Ariana airlines. During 1997, when the Taliban tried unsuccessfully to capture the northern city of
Mazar-e-Sharif Mazar-i-Sharīf ( ; Dari and ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with the estimates varying from 500,000-680,000. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highway ...
, Mansour was captured by an Uzbek warlord. For two months he remained there as a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
, before Mohammed Omar negotiated his release in a prisoner swap. During 1998, the Mullah visited Frankfurt, Germany, and Prague, Czech Republic, during a 25-day trip visit to the unofficial envoy to Europe at the time, Mullah Nek Muhammad: After the conclusion of the
hijacking Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''likej ...
of
Indian Airlines Flight 814 Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 that was Aircraft hijacking, hijacked on 24 December 1999 by five members of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. The passenger flight, en route from Tribhuvan Internat ...
, Mansour was reported, by Anand Arni, a former officer with the Indian organisation
Research & Analysis Wing The Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) is the foreign intelligence agency of the Republic of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, and a ...
, as being seen embracing
Maulana Masood Azhar Muhammad Masood Azhar Alvi (born 10 July or 7 August 1968) is a Pakistani militant leader, who is the founder and current leader of militant organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based Islamic Deobandi jihadist organisation. His actions a ...
, the then leader of
Jaish-e-Mohammed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is a Pakistani Deobandi jihadist Islamist militant group active in Kashmir.: "as soon as he was freed, Masood Azhar was back in Pakistan where he founded a new jihadist movement, Jaish-e-Mohammed, which became one of ...
. In 2001, he surrendered to the Afghan President
Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...
to ask for amnesty. He was forgiven after which he returned to his home district. However, American forces, refusing to believe he and other senior Taliban commanders had given up fighting, conducted a series of night raids to capture him after which he fled to Pakistan, where he helped to shape the Taliban as an
insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...
organisation. Mullah Mansour was appointed as shadow governor of Kandahar, from sometime after 2001, until May 2007. In a previously secret state communication of the U.S. government in 2006, Akhtar Mansour was listed as the 23rd member of the Taliban (with the late Mohammed Omar as the first member).


2007 and later


Quetta Shura and Taliban insurgency

According to leaked material, Mansour attended a meeting dated 24 August 2007 with other senior Taliban officials, so that he and those others present might discuss and organize a potential suicide bombing and bombing campaign upon the areas of
Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
and the
Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...
, and also particularly focused on killing
Ahmad Wali Karzai Ahmad Wali Karzai (, , 1961 – 12 July 2011) was an Afghan politician who served as Chairman of the Ka ...
and
Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...
. The council of the Taliban appointed him as deputy to the newly appointed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar during 2007, the
Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...
reported Akthar Mansour as appointed to the Taliban's
Quetta Shura The Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also translated as the Supreme Council (, also referred to as the Inner Shura), is an advisory council to the Supreme Leader of Afghanistan. The supreme leader convenes and chairs the ...
(council for political and military matters and affairs), sometime during 2007, while within
Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...
. One source gives Mansour as being appointed deputy to Mohammed Omar during 2010; another source states him to have been "by some accounts" the second most senior member of the Taliban behind Mohammed Omar, during 2010. A contradictory report states his appointment occurred during 2013 after Abdul Ghani Baradar, the then deputy, was jailed. A source claims to know of Akther Mansour having a "direct influence" over military units operating within
Khost Khōst () is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram Agency, Kurram i ...
,
Paktia Paktia (Pashto – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 623,0 ...
and
Paktika Paktika (Pashto: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000 residents, who are mostly ethnic Pashtuns but smal ...
, at a time after his appointment to the Council of the Taliban.


2011


Listed by the United Nations for sanctioning

In a communique published 29 November 2011, the Mullah was identified with the reference number TI.M.11.01. as an individual associated with the Taliban and accordingly was made pursuant to sanctions, as of 25 January 2001, and those sanctioned were to have any available assets frozen, to be banned from traveling and to be subject to an arms embargo.


2013 – June 2015

Wahid Muzhda is quoted as saying of Mansour: a fact which is corroborated by an additional report, which states the office was in
Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
,
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
. According to a 2014 report, Mansour, together with Abdul Qayum Zakir and Gul Agha Ishakzai, were involved in fighting over control of a major opium-producing area (land of Maiwand District) against a co-founder of the Taliban movement,
Abdul Ghani Baradar Abdul Ghani Baradar (born 29 September 1963 known by the honorific ''mullah'') is an Afghan politician and religious leader who is the acting first Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan, deputy prime minister, alongside Abdul Salam Hanafi, of the ...
.(page 12) An article published on 12 March 2015 said Mansour and Abdul Qayum Zakir, who were long-term rivals, had met together in order to find an agreement and at the meeting had slaughtered sheep for a feast. The article stated Mansour was in favour of initiating so-called talks with Afghani government officials at the time, but was unable to make any progress in his own direction due to opposition from Zakir to the opening of a dialogue with the Afghan government. According to one report, dated 17 March 2015, Mansour was at that time deputy '' amir ul-momenin'', military leader and head of the
shura Shura () is the term for collective decision-making in Islam. It can, for example, take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other. Shura is mentioned as a praise ...
of Quetta. Mansour wrote a letter to
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri (28 July 1971 – 27 October 2019), commonly known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an Iraqi militant leader who was the founder and first leader of the Islamic State (IS), who proclaimed hims ...
, on behalf of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, released on 16 June 2015, to express his concerns of the potential for a negative influence of
ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
upon Afghan Talibans' progress, since ISIS activities might pose a risk of causing "multiplicity" within forces of the jihad of Afghanistan. The letter, appealing to the unity of "religious brotherhood", requests al-Baghdadi might extend "goodwill" to the Taliban, which "doesn't want to see interference in its affairs". The letter was written in
Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
and released within the
Voice of Jihad ''Voice of Jihad'' () was the title of a website, which claims to be one of the official websites of the Taliban. It mainly provides latest news about Afghanistan in Arabic, Dari, English, Pashto, and Urdu. After the Taliban restored the Islamic E ...
site. Additionally, the letter shows Mansour considered the late (
Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...
s)
Abdullah Azzam Abdullah Yusuf Azzam () was a Palestinian-Jordanian Islamist jihadist and theologian. Belonging to the Salafi movement within Sunni Islam, he and his family fled from what had been the Jordanian-annexed West Bank after the 1967 Six-Day War a ...
and
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
, the late
Abu Musab al Zarqawi Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (; , "Father of Musab, of Zarqa"; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalayleh (), was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq a ...
and Ibn al-Khattab, to be heroes. In addition the letter expresses recognition of the support to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, of "famous religious scholars", of these he provides (Sheikh) Hamud bin Uqla al Shuaybi as an example.


July 2015 – May 2016


Leader of the Taliban

Akhtar Mansour was elected leader of the Taliban organisation on 29 July 2015. The results were announced on Thursday 30 July.


Internal dissent

Taliban splinter group
Fidai Mahaz The Sacrifice Front, more commonly known as Fidai Mahaz (), was a Taliban splinter group and faction in the War in Afghanistan. It was led by Mullah Najibullah, also known as Omar Khitab, a former Taliban commander. History Foundation Fidai M ...
claimed Mohammed Omar was assassinated in a coup led by Akhtar Mansour and Gul Agha. Mansoor Dadullah, a Taliban commander and the brother of former senior commander
Dadullah Dadullah (1966 – May 11, 2007) was the Taliban's most senior militant commander in Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asi ...
, also claimed that Omar had been assassinated.
Mohammad Yaqoob Muhammad Yaqoob Mujahid Tumzi (born 1990), commonly known as Mullah Yaqoob, is an Afghan military leader and cleric who is serving as the second deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting defense minister in the internationally unrecognized Ta ...
, Omar's eldest son, denied that his father had been killed, insisting that he died of natural causes. A Taliban communique published 30 July 2015 said that Omar had died in hospital. Mullah Mansour is said to have "closely kept the secret that Mullah Omar had been dead" despite the leaking of a report of Omar's death in 2013.


Dissension

Some Taliban members considered Mansour's selection as leader to be invalid because not all Taliban were involved in the decision. Other senior Taliban commanders and officials wanted Omar's son Yaqoob as leader. Yaqoob was said to have been supported by his father's younger brother Abdul Manan, and former Taliban military chief
Abdul Qayyum Zakir Abdul Qayyum "Zakir" (born 1973), also known by the nom de guerre Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, is a Taliban militant commander and the acting Deputy Minister of Defense of the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime currently ruling Afghanistan. ...
. The head of the Talibans' political office in Qatar,
Tayyab Agha Sayyid Muhammad Tayyab Agha (, ''Sayyid Muḥammad Ṭayyab Āghā''; born 1976) is a prominent figure in the Afghan Taliban. He was the head of the political wing of the Taliban from 2009 to 2015 and was a close aide to Taliban founder Mohamme ...
, also opposed the selection of Mansour as leader. However, a statement allegedly from Zakir denied he had any conflict with Mansour. Yaqoob is known to have publicly rejected the appointment of Mansour.


Features of Mansour's leadership

Mansour announced one of his deputies to be
Sirajuddin Haqqani Sirajuddin Haqqani (, ; aliases '' Khalifa'' and Siraj Haqqani; born December 1979) is an Afghan leader who is the first deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting interior minister in the post-2021 Taliban regime. He has been a deputy lead ...
. Mansour is thought to have had dealings of some kind with the Pakistani
Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the premier Pakistani Intelligence community, intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant t ...
. On 13 August 2015, al-Qaeda's media wing
As-Sahab As-Sahab Media (Arabic: السحاب, "The Cloud") is the official media wing of Al-Qaeda's core leadership based in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It produces media featuring original sermons and speeches by senior Al-Qaeda commanders as well as foo ...
issued a pledge of allegiance from
Ayman al-Zawahiri Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (; 19 June 195131 July 2022) was an Egyptian-born pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist militant and physician who served as the second general emir of al-Qaeda from June 2011 until Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, his dea ...
to Mansour. Sometime in August, Mansour sent a delegation to meetings with officials of the Afghan government, which was subsequently "hailed as a breakthrough". A
Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
report, dated to the immediate September after Mansour's inauguration, showed he, as the new leader, was unwilling to engage in negotiations for the purposes of assuring peace. The
Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...
reported that Mansour referred to his own leadership as ''Commander of the faithful'', a translation of
Amir al-Mu'minin () or Commander of the Faithful is a Muslims, Muslim title designating the supreme leader of an Ummah, Islamic community. Name Although etymology, etymologically () is equivalent to English "commander", the wide variety of its historical an ...
. A separate source states Mansour used this particular title to refer to his role as leader of jihad. Mansour was, according to
RAND corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
, and elsewhere, leading a jihad (i.e. an ''insurgent force'') limited to concerns orientated only to within Afghanistan, and not elsewhere.("...The Taliban ... have repeatedly said that their jihad is limited to their own country...")


Communications

According to a report published on 5 November 2015, Mansour stated his opinion that modern education was a "necessity". Mansour released his first communication as leader of the Taliban on 1 August 2015 as part of a 30-minute (or 33-minute, according to
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
) video release: Mansour stated his position with regards to peace talks; the suggestion of his being willing to engage in peace talks as "enemy propaganda". The website of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan published a biography of Mansour when he became Emir.


Death

On 21 May 2016, Mansour was killed in a U.S. military drone strike on the
N-40 National Highway The National Highway 40 () or the N-40 is one of Pakistan National Highway running from Lakpass near Quetta to the border town of Taftan via Nokkundi in Baluchistan, Pakistan, extending into Iran via Road 84. It is a two lane highway with ...
in Pakistan near
Ahmad Wal Ahmad Wal is a town in the Pakistani province of Balochistan about 20 miles from the Afghan border. Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a convoy southwest of the town by a U.S. drone strike Drone warfare is a form of warfare usin ...
, not far from the Pakistan–Afghanistan border; Mansour had crossed earlier that day from Iran into Pakistan through the
Taftan, Balochistan Taftan () () is a trunk road and railway town in Chagai District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is one of Pakistan's border crossings with Iran. It is by either road or rail over from Quetta. It is northeast of the thermally active dark peak or s ...
border crossing, some away from the spot where he was killed. Mansour was being driven to
Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...
, after a long stay in Iran, reportedly to both visit family and seek medical treatment. The CIA had learned of Mansour's location via electronic intercepts, and the movements of his vehicle were tracked using
signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
provided by the NSA. Mansour had crossed into Pakistan posing as a Pakistani citizen, using forged identity documents (a
Pakistani passport Pakistani passports are issued to citizens of Pakistan for the purpose of international travel. The Directorate General of Immigration & Passports holds the responsibility for passport issuance, under the regulation of the Ministry of Interior ...
and national ID card under the name "Muhammad Wali.") The false passport showed that Mansour had entered Iran on 28 March. Mansour and his taxi driver were both killed in the strike against the
Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly Subcompact car, subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has bee ...
, which was struck by two
Hellfire missiles The AGM-114 Hellfire is an American missile developed for anti-armor use, later developed for precision drone strikes against other target types, especially high-value targets. It was originally developed under the name " Heliborne laser, fi ...
launched by Reaper drones that had evaded Pakistani radar. The following day, U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
announced that the United States had "conducted a precision airstrike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border" against Mansour that had likely killed him, and stated that Mansour "posed a continuing, imminent threat" to U.S. personnel and Afghans.Kerry says Taliban leader Mansour posed a 'continuing imminent threat'
Reuters (22 May 2016).
Kerry said that the leaders of both Pakistan and Afghanistan were made aware of the airstrike but did not comment on the timing of the notifications, which he said included a telephone call from him to Pakistani Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...
. The Pakistani government later said it was notified of the strike seven hours after it took place. On 23 May 2016, U.S. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
confirmed that Mansour had been killed in the American airstrike that he had sanctioned, and stated that Mansour had been planning attacks against U.S. targets in
Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
. Obama stated afterwards that he had hoped Mansour's death would lead to the Taliban joining a peace process. The death of Mansour was also later officially confirmed separately by the Afghan government and members of the Taliban. The U.S. government agencies involved reportedly agreed that officials were to be vague about identifying the location of the strike, beyond saying it took place in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. The strike that killed Mansour was a rare instance of a U.S. drone strike in
Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...
; U.S. strikes in Pakistan were more generally limited to the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018 through the ...
. Two senior members of the Taliban said that Pakistani authorities had delivered Mansour's badly burned body to the Taliban for its burial in
Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...
, Balochistan. Pakistani officials, however, denied handing over a body. Mansour's body was later handed over to his relatives in Afghanistan.Mullah Mansour's body handed over to his Afghan relatives
/ref>


Succession and impact

Mansour was succeeded as Taliban leader by
Hibatullah Akhundzada Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada (born 19 October 1967), also spelled Haibatullah Akhunzada, is an Afghan cleric who is the supreme leader of Afghanistan in the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime. He has led the Taliban since 2016, and ...
. Some U.S. officials had been divided over Mansour's intentions. Some believed that Mansour could have brought the Taliban to the negotiating table, potentially speeding up the reconciliation process; others, by contrast, "were highly skeptical of Mansour's commitment to talks," noting that Mansour had a long history of authorizing
suicide attack A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...
s, including in the weeks before the drone strike (such as the
April 2016 Kabul attack On the morning of 19 April 2016, Taliban militants attacked a security team responsible for protecting government VIPs in Kabul, Afghanistan. The initial attack killed 64 people and wounded 347. It was their biggest attack on an urban area since ...
, which killed more than 60 people), and that even as Mansour was agreeing to secret direct peace negotiations, he had rejected international peace efforts. According to the
International Institute for Counter-Terrorism The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) is an Israeli think tank founded in 1996 and located at Reichman University, in Herzliya, Israel. Activities According to ''The Village Voice'', the ICT is a think tank developing public-poli ...
, U.S. officials stated that Mullah Mansour's death was "unavoidable" due to the then Emir being unwilling to engage in peace talks.


Timeline

The following is a list of reported information: *Born sometime during either 1960, 1963, 1965 or 1968. *Joined war against Soviet invasion during 1985. *Joined Maulvi Obaidullah Ishaqzai during 1987. *Injured during battle during 1987. *Student at Darul Uloom Haqqania madrassa 1994–1995. *Made director of Ariana airlines during 1996. *Sometime during 1996 appointed to Minister of Civil Aviation (including both domestic and military flights), Transportation, Tourism. *Injured during battle May 1997. *Visited Europe during 1998. *Listed for sanctioning by the United Nations as of 25 January 2001. *Known to be involved in activities identified as terrorist within the provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika, Afghanistan as of May 2007. *Made Governor of Kandahar by the then powers of the Taliban, as of May 2007. *Attendee of meeting (2007) to organize bombing campaign to kill
Ahmad Wali Karzai Ahmad Wali Karzai (, , 1961 – 12 July 2011) was an Afghan politician who served as Chairman of the Ka ...
and
Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...
. *Appointed to the
Quetta Shura The Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also translated as the Supreme Council (, also referred to as the Inner Shura), is an advisory council to the Supreme Leader of Afghanistan. The supreme leader convenes and chairs the ...
sometime during 2007. *Deputy to Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in the Taliban Supreme Council as of 2009. *Temporarily in charge of the Taliban Supreme Council from February 2011. *Identified as involved within the trafficking of illegal drugs, principally through Gerd-e-Jangal (within Afghanistan); 2011. *Public statement as leader of Taliban as of 30 July 2015. *During August and September 2015, the Mullah had sent a request to Mullah Dadullah to leave
Zabul Zabul (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became an independent province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Zab ...
, using the Taliban shadow governor for Zabul, and subsequently sent fighters against the non-allegiant Mullah Dadullah.INP �
article
published 8 September 2015 by ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'' etrieved 31 October 2015/ref>


See also

*
Caliphs A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the enti ...
*
Kunduz Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...
*
Mohammad Rabbani Mullah Mohammad Rabbani Akhund (1955 – 16 April 2001) was an Afghan politician and one of the main leaders of the Taliban movement who served as Prime Minister of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. He was second in power only to the supreme le ...
*
Sahib Sahib or Saheb () is a term of address originating from Arabic (). As a loanword, ''Sahib'' has passed into several languages, including Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Uzbek, Turkmen, Tajik, Crimean Tatar, Urdu, Hi ...
*
Sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...


Notes


References


External links

*
Peter Tomsen Peter Tomsen (born November 19, 1940) is an American retired diplomat and educator, serving as U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992, United States Ambassador to Armenia between 1995 and 1998, and was Deputy Ambassador at the Un ...
,
The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers
' (PublicAffairs, 2013), {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansoor, Akhtar 1960s births 2016 deaths Darul Uloom Haqqania alumni Afghan expatriates in Pakistan Afghan Sunni Muslims Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Pakistan Pashtun people People from Kandahar Province Taliban government ministers of Afghanistan Supreme leaders of Afghanistan