Afghanistan's unstable security situation could be set to worsen with fears growing that Taliban defections to a small but growing ISIS franchise group may lead to further violence.
"The new leader of the Afghan Taliban has called for unity among his fighters, promising to continue insurgency in his first message."
Following the Taliban's official confirmation of Mullah Omar's death, fears have started to grow that an ISIS franchise has the potential to pose a serious challenge to the terrorist group in Afghanistan.
ISIS's Khorasan branch (wilayat al-Khorasan) remains a small group of militants but it could now receive significant financial backing from ISIS with signs of Taliban instability.
News has emerged that Omar's successor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, may not have received full backing from members of the shura council, Daily Mail reports.
"The new leader of the Taliban is seen as close to Pakistan, which is believed to have sheltered and supported the insurgents through the war."
If true, this suggest that Mansour's position as leader of the group may not be completely secure and could face the threat of other Taliban senior figures vying for power.
The new leader of the Afghan Taliban has called for unity among his fighters, promising to continue insurgency in his first message.
The audio message purportedly from Mullah Akhtar Mansoor also included comments about peace talks, he rejected it and called plots of enemies.
'We should keep our unity, we must be united, our enemy will be happy in our separation,' Mansoor purportedly said in the message. 'This is a big responsibility on us. This is not the work of one, two or three people. This is all our responsibility to carry on “jihad” until we establish the “Islamic state”.'
The new leader of the Taliban is seen as close to Pakistan, which is believed to have sheltered and supported the insurgents through the war.
While the insurgents have spread their footprint across the northern provinces, the traditional battlegrounds of the south and east bordering Pakistan remain vulnerable to large-scale Taliban attacks that seem designed to destroy the morale of the Afghan forces as insurgents continue to overrun districts, if only temporarily.
Officials said that Taliban gunmen had surrounded a police station in southern Uruzgan province yesterday and were holding 70 police officers hostage. The head of the police in Khas Uruzgan district said that five police officers had been killed and four wounded in fighting so far.
'If we don't get support then all 70 police will be either dead or captured,' he said.