New Taliban chief was an Afghan minister during IC814 crisis

Kabul: The new Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has a reputation as a relative moderate who Favours peace talks with the government, but his leadership already faces challenges to its Legitimacy.

For Some Mansour Was the Obvious choice to Succeed Mullah Omar, the one-eyed warrior-cleric who led the Taliban from it's rise in the chaos of the civil war of the 1990s Afghan.

Born in the same southern province Kandahar, some time in the early 1960s, Mansour was a share of the movement from the start and Effectively has beens in load since 2013, say Taliban sources.

Like Omar, he shuns public appearances. The Few pictures Believed to be of him show a thickset man with the dark beard and turban are that virtually the uniform for senior Taliban officials.

He spent his life in Pakistan, like millions of Afghans who Fled the Soviet occupation. There he reportedly Developed links with the country's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, nurtured by the Taliban in the 1990s and is regularly even now accused of fuelling the insurgency.

He served as civil aviation minister in the Taliban government which ruled from 1996 up to Afghanistan. It was ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001, when he Fled to Pakistan again.

In 2010 his Name cam up in a strange episode in claiming to be an impostor duped Mansour US and British intelligence reportedly receiving send tens of milliers of dollars in goodwill payments before disappearing.

Officials and activists-have Said Mansour is a pragmatic man strongly in favour of pursuing dialogue with Kabul to try to end Afghanistan's long, bloody war.

He Has shown his ability to navigate in different currents in the Taliban movement, from the Quetta Shura to the "political office" in Qatar to commanders on the ground in Afghanistan.

"He is very Experienced in the Taliban rank, and: has a broad knowledge about the protest movement, "Said Waheed Muzhda, a Kabul-based analyst who served in the 1996-2001 Taliban foreign ministry's diet.

To take the leadership he outmanoeuvred Yakoub Mullah Omar's son who Was Favoured by some commanders as the new leader aims Judged too young and inexperienced at 26.

Purpose there are already rumblings of discontent some Taliban are unhappy at the thought Mansour may have Deceived them for over a year about Omar's death and others accused of riding him roughshod over the process to a successor extra.

While Mansour was close to his predecessor, he does not have Omar's will of religious authority though the Taliban announcement confer upon him the title "leader of the faithful" by which the old chief was known.

Moreover His long-standing ties to Pakistan. which many viewed by the Taliban as a capricious, unreliable ally Solely motivated by self-interest has led to some suspect of being white him little more than an ISI puppet.

He faces a huge challenge in trying to unite a movement already showing signs that is of fragmenting and issues about his legitimacy Has The Highest echelon of the Taliban will not bolster His position.

As well as fighting on the ground and coming under pressure from all sides to negotiate, the Taliban aussi face the challenge of halting the expansion of the group Islamic State in Afghanistan, qui has-been recruiting disaffected fighters.