Islamabad: In one of the most significant shake-ups in years, the Taliban put the son of the movement’s feared founder in charge of its military wing and added powerful figures to its negotiating team ahead of expected talks aimed at ending Afghanistan’s decades of war, Taliban officials say.
As head of a newly united military wing, 30-year-old Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, brings his father’s fiercely uncompromising reputation to the battlefield.
Equally significant is the addition of four members of the insurgent group’s leadership council to the 20-member negotiating team, Taliban officials told The Associated Press.
The shuffle overseen by Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhunzada is meant to tighten his control over the movement’s military and political arms, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the inner workings of the movement.
Analysts say the shake-up could be good news for negotiations with Afghanistan’s political leadership in Kabul, and a sign of just how serious the Taliban are taking this second and perhaps most critical step in a deal Washington signed with the insurgents in February.
I’d say it appears to be a positive development because the Taliban are creating a delegation that seems more senior and more broad-based than they’ve used to date, or than might be strictly necessary for the opening stages of talks, said Andrew Wilder, vice president of the Asia Program at the Washington-based US Institute of Peace.
If you want to see the glass as half full this strengthened Taliban delegation could be interpreted as a sign that the group is planning to engage in serious discussions, he said. (AP)
