Mullah Mansoor Dadullah (1972 – 11 November 2015) was 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) ...

militant commander Mullah Dadullah's younger half-brother who succeeded him as a senior military commander of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. He came from the

Arghandab district Arghandab (Pashto/) is a district in the central part of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Panjwai and Khakrez districts to the west, Shah Wali Kot District to the north and east and Kandahar District to the east and south. The p ...

of Kandahar province, and belonged to the

Kakar The Kakar (Pashto: کاکړ) is a Gharghashti Pashtun tribe, based in Afghanistan, parts of Iran, and northern Balochistan in Pakistan. Origins of the tribe Kakars are descendants of Dani (or Daani) who was the son of Gharghasht. Gharghasht wa ...

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

tribe.

Militant activity

He appeared in a video which showed the "graduation ceremony" of would-be

suicide bomber 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. In 2007, he was thought to be approximately 30 years old. During the 1990s, Mansoor Dadullah served as his brother's assistant during the Taliban's fight against the

Afghan Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance ( ''Da Šumāl E'tilāf'' or ''Ettehād Šumāl''), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( ''Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān''), was a military alliance of groups that op ...

. In November 2015, he was named as the Deputy Emir for the Taliban splinter faction, the High Council of the Afghanistan Islamic Emirate. In March 2007, Mansoor Dadullah was serving a prison sentence 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 ...

when he was released along with several other Taliban prisoners in exchange for

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

journalist

Daniele Mastrogiacomo Daniele Mastrogiacomo (born 30 September 1954) is an Italian-Swiss journalist and a war correspondent for ''la Repubblica'' newspaper. An expert in foreign politics, he began working for ''la Repubblica'' in 1980 and has been a special internation ...

. At the time he was not considered to be of an important member of the Taliban movement. After his brother was killed on May 12, 2007, a Taliban spokesman announced that Mansoor Dadullah would be taking his place as military commander of the

Taliban insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), the Afghan conflict, and the War on terror , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of th ...

in Southern Afghanistan. His appointment is not thought to be the result of any particular ability, but simply due to his kinship with Dadullah. Taliban 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 ...

, who had resented Dadullah's brutality, was said to have opposed Mansoor Dadullah's appointment. He did, however, receive support from

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

, who wished him to employ the tactics of

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 ...

in Afghanistan. In June 2007, Mansoor Dadullah said: "Sheikh Osama Bin Laden is alive and active. He’s carrying out his duties. The latest proof that he is alive is that he sent me a letter of condolences after the martyrdom of my brother. He advised me to follow my brother’s path." On December 29, 2007 Mansoor Dadullah was removed from his post as military commander by

due to insubordination. On February 11, 2008, Dadullah was seriously wounded and captured by Pakistani security forces in a crackdown on Taliban in Gawal Ismailzai area.

Release

Dadullah, alongside six other prisoners, was released by Pakistan on September 7, 2013 on the request of Afghan government for peace talks. After his release, Dadullah returned to Afghanistan to reorganise his brother's followers in a renewed

Mullah Dadullah Front The Mullah Dadullah Front (also known as the Dadullah Front, the Mullah Dadullah Lang Allegiance or the Mullah Dadullah Mahaz) was an insurgent group in Afghanistan that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings and assassinations centered ...

. Following the August 2015 announcement that

Akhtar Mansour Akhtar Mohammad Mansour (196821 May 2016) was an Afghan militant leader who served as the second supreme leader of the Taliban. Succeeding the founding leader, Mullah Omar, he was the supreme leader from July 2015 to May 2016, when he was killed ...

had succeeded the deceased Mullah Omar as leader of the Taliban, Dadullah refused to pledge allegiance to him, instead setting up a base with supporters in his native

Zabul Province 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 ...

. Clashes followed between the forces loyal to Dadullah and Mansour. In early September, Afghan media sources had announced that Dadullah was said to have joined the Afghanistan branch of the

Islamic State group The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

, following disputes over the appointment of Akhtar Mansour as leader of the Taliban. The announcement came from an Islamic State supporter in Afghanistan who further stated that 230 IS fighters were deployed to

Zabul province 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 ...

from

Farah province Farah (Pashto :فرَاه /) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southwestern part of the country on the border with Iran. It is a spacious and sparsely populated province, divided into eleven Districts of Afghanistan, dist ...

to aid Dadullah's forces against 2,100 Taliban militants sent by Mansour. According to the district governor of Arghandab in Zabul Province, Haji Momand Nasratyar, Dadullah’s fighters are sympathetic to the Islamic State. However, other Afghan sources state that Dadullah denied joining the Islamic State in Afghanistan and was still loyal to the Taliban. He reportedly said "We are with the emirate and will (always) be." Dadullah was opposed to the Taliban leadership, calling Akhtar Mansour a "forger".

Death

Dadullah was killed in November 2015 in clashes between his forces and those loyal to Taliban leader Mansour in the Khak-e-Afghan District of Zabul. The claims of his death were supported by local tribal elders, government officials and Taliban commanders, however his spokesman, Mullah Naim Niazi, said that Dadullah had only been wounded. Despite this denial, his faction officially confirmed his death on August 15, 2016 and named his nephew Mullah Emdadullah Mansoor as his replacement. Mansoor vowed revenge for his uncle's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dadullah, Mansoor 1972 births 2015 deaths Pashtun people Taliban leaders Prisoners and detainees of Pakistan Afghan people imprisoned abroad Deaths by firearm in Afghanistan Afghan guerrillas killed in action Afghan expatriates in Pakistan