Security officials predict Taliban power struggle after leader “killed in drone strike”

Officials in Ministry of National Defense (MoD) and Ministry of Interior (MoI) are said to believe that the armed Taliban group to be weaken after the death of their supreme leader, Mullah Muhammad Akhtar Mansour.

“Our data indicate that the moral of people affiliated with the Taliban group have been weakened in battlefields after their leader killed in US drone strike,” Tawab Ghurzang, spokesman of National Security Council said.

Mansour was killed in the Pakistani town of Ahmad Wal in a US drone strike on Saturday, confirmed the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) and US President Barack Obama.

The news of Mansour’s death has been widely hailed by Afghans as a “major blow” to the militant group, which according to political observers will help further facilitate the government’s “carrot and stick” policy and push for peace and war simultaneously.

MoI believes that Taliban will surrender slowly.

“We find that a number of Taliban fighters want to surrender, despite many of them are in clashes with Afghan security forces. But, the Taliban members have lost incentive in the battlefields,” Sidiq Sidiqi, spokesman of MoI said.

In the meantime, MoD spokesman, Dawlat Waziri said about the interests of the armed opposition groups and considered reconciling with Afghan government is in their interests.

“The armed opposition groups and the neighboring countries should know that reconciling with Afghan government would be in their interests,” MoD spokesman, Dawlat Waziri said.

Taliban militants would further be divided into several more groups in the wake of Mansour’s death as previously, the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar had divided the armed outfit into two factions led by Mansour and his rival Mullah Mohammad Rasoul.

This comes as the Taliban group has appointed new leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, a prominent religious scholar and deputy to Mullah Mansour.