Mullah mansoor biography sample

Abstract: After Taliban emir Mullah Mansoor was killed in a U.S. drone strike on May 21, one key question is whether al-Qa`ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri will pledge allegiance to his successor. When al-Zawahiri pledged allegiance (bay`a) to Mansoor last summer, some observers were puzzled. Instead of laying claim to the title of emir al-mu’minin (commander of the faithful) and directly challenging Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for leadership of the global jihadist movement, al-Zawahiri exposed himself to ridicule by subordinating himself to a man whose succession to Mullah Omar was opposed initially by significant factions of the Taliban movement. But at a time of rising competition from the Islamic State, al-Zawahiri arguably had little choice. His decision was consistent with strategic maxims that have defined his career, including forging and maintaining alliances to offset weakness. Nine months later, with the Taliban surging in Afghanistan and al-Qa`ida riding its coattails, his decision appears to be paying dividends, and he is likely to pledge bay`a to Mansoor’s successor, Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada.

When al-Qa`ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, the 64-year-old veteran of global jihad and the haughty scion of an ‘aristocratic’ Egyptian family, subordinated himself on August 13, 2015, to a Pashtun tribesman at least 10 years his junior by pledging bay`a[1] to the new emir of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, it must have been a bitter pill to swallow. Rather than assume the mantle of emir al-mu’minin (commander of the faithful) and directly challenge Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for leadership of the global jihadist movement, al-Zawahiri opted to play second fiddle to a man whose succession to Mullah Omar was opposed by significant factions of his own Taliban movement, some of whom depicted Mansoor as a pawn of Pakistan’s intelligence services.

Accentuating the irony, al-Zawahiri had initially opposed Usama bin Ladin’s pledge of allegiance to Mullah

We’re sorry, this site is currently experiencing technical difficulties.
Please try again in a few moments.
Reference ID:

Afghan cleric who founded the Taliban (1960–2013)

"Muhammad Umar" redirects here. For other uses, see Muhammad Umar (disambiguation).

MullahMuhammad Omar (Pashto: محمد عمر, romanized: Muḥammad ʿUmar; 1960 – 23 April 2013) was an Afghan militant leader and cleric who founded the Taliban in 1994. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the Taliban fought the Northern Alliance and took control of most of the country, establishing the First Islamic Emirate for which Omar began to serve as Supreme Leader in 1996. Shortly after al-Qaeda carried out the September 11 attacks, the Taliban government was toppled by an American invasion of Afghanistan, prompting Omar to go into hiding. He successfully evaded capture by the American-led coalition before dying in 2013 from tuberculosis.

Born into a religious family in Kandahar, Omar was educated at local madrasas in Afghanistan. After Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979, he joined the Afghan mujahideen to fight in the Soviet–Afghan War and he was trained by BrigadierSultan Amir Tarar (also known as Imam Tarar). He served as an important military commander during several skirmishes, losing his right eye in an explosion. The Soviets eventually withdrew from the country in 1989 and Afghanistan's Soviet-backed Democratic Republic was toppled in 1992, triggering the Afghan Civil War of 1992–1996. While initially remaining quiet and focused on continuing his studies, Omar became increasingly discontent with what he perceived as fasād in the country, ultimately prompting him to return to fighting in the Civil War. In 1994, Omar, along with religious students in Kandahar, formed the Taliban, which emerged victorious against other Afghan factions by 1996. Omar led the Taliban to form a Sunni Islamic theocracy headed by the Supreme Council, known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which strictly enforced sharia. While ruling between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban were wi

2nd supreme leader of the Taliban

Akhtar Mohammad Mansour (1968 – 21 May 2016) was 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 in a US drone strike in Balochistan, Pakistan.

United StatespresidentBarack Obama stated that Mansour was killed because he was planning attacks on US targets in Kabul. Obama hoped Mansour's death would lead to the Taliban joining a peace process.

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 of Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan. 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. According to Ahmed Rashid, Mansour belonged to the Alizai tribe, but other sources claim that he was of the Ishaqzai tribe, in any case, both the Alizai and the Ishaqzai are of the Durrani line of Pashtuns. According to the Taliban, Mansoor was educated at a village mosque and joined primary school at about the age of seven.

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, Mansour performed his business operations via a residence located