Afghan war

Killing of Afghan Taliban leader reduces likelihood of peace talks in six-month outlook as hardliners dominate Taliban

On 22 May, US and Afghan officials announced that Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the head of the Afghan Taliban, had been killed in an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) strike in Nushki District, in Pakistan's Balochistan province.

Over the past several months, the Afghan Taliban has appeared to be at substantial risk of disintegration as a single organisation. Mullah Akhtar Mansour was never able to properly consolidate his leadership, despite having the advantage, according to an IHS source, of having access to most of the Taliban's financial resources and of considerable support from the Pakistani military establishment, who regarded Mansour as their key proxy within the Taliban. However, that relationship - and Mansour's support for pursuing a peace process with the Afghan government - drove several Taliban commanders to oppose the former leader. Mullah Rasul, Mansour's principal opponent, had proven capable of attracting not only commanders and cadres from Mansour's ranks, but had also begun to attract some senior commanders of the Haqqani Network.