Anti-MANSOOR front wants to choose "other person" as new leader of Afghan Taliban. https://t.co/bwnmDG9TH8— Abdul Mateen Imran (@mateenimran12) October 20, 2015Reuters: Exclusive: Dissident commanders meet to choose rival Afghan Taliban leader
Weeks after the Afghan Taliban's biggest battlefield success since 2001, dissident commanders unhappy with their new leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour are meeting to choose a rival, they told Reuters on Tuesday.
Analysts say the recent brief occupation of the northern city of Kunduz has cemented Mansour's power, boosting his reputation among foot soldiers and causing the U.S. government and NATO to slow plans for withdrawing their troops.
But in the opaque maneuvering around the Taliban leadership, it is unclear whether the anti-Mansour faction will seek to challenge him on the battlefield, how many fighters they control or how much money they have.
Update: Afghan Taliban Internal Rift Widens As Dissidents Plan To Choose Leader Mullah Mansoor's Replacement (IBTimes)
WNU Editor: It is hard to know if this is just disinformation from the Afghan government and coalition forces to demoralize the Taliban .... or there is a kernel of truth that the Taliban is fracturing. But what I do know is that the Taliban are on the offensive .... and they are succeeding .... Taliban seizes another district in western Afghanistan (Threat Matrix).