Mansoor Dadullah

Last updated
Mansoor Dadullah
Mullah Mansoor Dadullah.jpg
Mullah Mansoor during a Taliban graduation ceremony.
Born Arghandab, Kingdom of Afghanistan
DiedNovember 2015
Zabul Province, Afghanistan
Allegiance Flag of the Taliban.svg Taliban
Flag of the Taliban.svg Taliban separatists
Years of service????–2008 (Taliban)
2008–2015 (Taliban separatists)
RankDeputy Emir of Taliban (High Council of Afghanistan Islamic Emirate)
Battles/wars Afghan Civil War
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
Taliban insurgency
Waziristan War
War on Terrorism

Mullah Mansoor Dadullah (died 2015) was the Taliban militant commander Mullah Dadullah's younger half-brother who succeeded him as a senior military commander of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. He came from the Arghandab district of Kandahar province, and belonged to the Kakar Pashtun tribe.

Contents

Militant activity

He appeared in a video which showed the "graduation ceremony" of would-be suicide bombers. [1] In 2007, he was thought to be approximately 30 years old. [2] During the 1990s, Mansoor Dadullah served as his brother's assistant during the Taliban's fight against the Afghan Northern Alliance. [2] In November 2015, he was named as the Deputy Emir for the Taliban splinter faction, the High Council of the Afghanistan Islamic Emirate. [3]

In March 2007, Mansoor Dadullah was serving a prison sentence in Kabul when he was released along with several other Taliban prisoners in exchange for Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo. At the time he was not considered to be of an important member of the Taliban movement. [2]

After his brother was killed on May 12, 2007, a Taliban spokesman announced that Mansoor Dadullah would be taking his place as military commander of the Taliban insurgency in Southern Afghanistan. His appointment is not thought to be the result of any particular ability, but simply due to his kinship with Dadullah. Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who had resented Dadullah's brutality, was said to have opposed Mansoor Dadullah's appointment. He did, however, receive support from Al-Qaeda, who wished him to employ the tactics of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Afghanistan. [2]

In June 2007, Mansoor Dadullah said: "Sheikh Osama Bin Laden is alive and active. He’s carrying out his duties. The latest proof that he is alive is that he sent me a letter of condolences after the martyrdom of my brother. He advised me to follow my brother’s path." [4] On December 29, 2007 Mansoor Dadullah was removed from his post as military commander by Mullah Omar due to insubordination. [5] On February 11, 2008, Dadullah was seriously wounded and captured by Pakistani security forces in a crackdown on Taliban in Gawal Ismailzai area. [6]

Release

Dadullah, alongside six other prisoners, was released by Pakistan on September 7, 2013 on the request of Afghan government for peace talks. [7] After his release, Dadullah returned to Afghanistan to reorganise his brother's followers in a renewed Mullah Dadullah Front. [8] Following the August 2015 announcement that Akhtar Mansour had succeeded the deceased Mullah Omar as leader of the Taliban, Dadullah refused to pledge allegiance to him, instead setting up a base with supporters in his native Zabul Province. Clashes followed between the forces loyal to Dadullah and Mansour. [9]

In early September, Afghan media sources had announced that Dadullah was said to have joined the Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State group, following disputes over the appointment of Akhtar Mansour as leader of the Taliban. The announcement came from an Islamic State supporter in Afghanistan who further stated that 230 IS fighters were deployed to Zabul province from Farah province to aid Dadullah's forces against 2,100 Taliban militants sent by Mansour. [10] According to the district governor of Arghandab in Zabul Province, Haji Momand Nasratyar, Dadullah’s fighters are sympathetic to the Islamic State. [11] However, other Afghan sources state that Dadullah denied joining the Islamic State in Afghanistan and was still loyal to the Taliban. He reportedly said "We are with the emirate and will (always) be." Dadullah was opposed to the Taliban leadership, calling Akhtar Mansour a "forger". [12]

Death

Dadullah was killed in November 2015 in clashes between his forces and those loyal to Taliban leader Mansour in the Khak-e-Afghan District of Zabul. [13] The claims of his death were supported by local tribal elders, government officials and Taliban commanders, however his spokesman, Mullah Naim Niazi, said that Dadullah had only been wounded. [14] Despite this denial, his faction officially confirmed his death on August 15, 2016 and named his nephew Mullah Emdadullah Mansoor as his replacement. Mansoor vowed revenge for his uncle's death. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mullah Omar</span> Afghan cleric who founded the Taliban

Muhammad Omar was an Afghan militant leader and founder of the Taliban. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dadullah</span> Afghan Taliban commander (1966–2007)

Dadullah was the Taliban's most senior militant commander in Afghanistan until his death in 2007. He was also known as Maulavi or Mullah Dadullah Akhund. He also earned the nickname of Lang, meaning "lame", because of a leg he lost during fighting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sirajuddin Haqqani</span> Afghan Taliban warlord (born 1979)

Sirajuddin Haqqani is an Afghan warlord and Specially Designated Global Terrorist who is the first deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting interior minister in the internationally unrecognized post-2021 Taliban regime. He has been a deputy leader of the Taliban since 2015, and was additionally appointed to his ministerial role after the Taliban's victory over Western-backed forces in the 2001–2021 war. He has led the Haqqani network, a semi-autonomous paramilitary arm of the Taliban, since inheriting it from his father in 2018, and has primarily had military responsibilities within the Taliban.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mullah Naqib</span> Afghan politician and mujahid (1950-2007)

Mullah Naqib Alikozai, sometimes called Naqibullah, was an Afghan mujahideen commander and politician from the Kandahar area of southern Afghanistan. He was the leader of the Alikozai Pashtun tribe.

Maulvi Saif-ur Mansur was a senior Taliban commander.

Mullah Abdul Salam Rocketi is a former mujahideen "freedom fighter" and Taliban military commander who renounced his allegiance to run for the Parliament of Afghanistan in 2005, and for the Presidency in 2009. The Asia Times described him as one of the former Taliban who "... act as the Taliban's political wing in Kabul." Rocketi is an ethnic Pashtun from Zabul Province in Afghanistan. Son of Haji Manzar, he had almost completed his religious studies before he joined the mujahedeen war against the foreign invaders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Rasul</span> Afghan Taliban breakaway group leader since 2015

Muhammad Rasul was the leader of the High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, a Taliban dissident group in Afghanistan, until the group's dissolution in 2021. He was a Taliban-appointed governor of Nimruz Province, Afghanistan. Rasul exerted pressure and suppression on Pashtun factions unpopular with the Taliban, and made a considerable fortune controlling cross-border drug-smuggling through Nimruz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mullah Dadullah Front</span> Afghan Salafi jihadist group active since 2007

The Mullah Dadullah Front was an insurgent group in Afghanistan that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings and assassinations centered in Kabul.

Omar Khalid Khorasani was a Pakistani militant and one of the founding members of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In 2014, he formed his own splinter militant group called Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and was ousted by the Mullah Fazlullah-led Taliban. The same year, JuA swore allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS), however, a year later JuA rejoined TTP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaat-ul-Ahrar</span> Organization

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was a terrorist organization that split away from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in August 2014. The group came to prominence after it claimed responsibility for the 2014 Wagah border suicide attack. In August 2020, it merged back to TTP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akhtar Mansour</span> 2nd supreme leader of the Taliban

Akhtar Mohammad Mansour 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fidai Mahaz</span> Taliban splinter group

The Sacrifice Front, more commonly known as Fidai Mahaz, was a Taliban splinter group and faction in the War in Afghanistan. It was led by Mullah Najibullah, also known as Omar Khitab, a former Taliban commander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Najibullah (militant leader)</span> Afghan militant leader

Najibullah, often referred to as Mullah Najibullah or Hajji Najibullah, and also known by the pseudonym Omar Khitab, is the leader of the Taliban splinter group Fidai Mahaz in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hibatullah Akhundzada</span> Supreme leader of Afghanistan since 2021

Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, also spelled Haibatullah Akhunzada, is an Afghan Deobandi cleric who is the supreme leader of Afghanistan in the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime. He has led the Taliban since 2016, and came to power with its victory over U.S.-backed forces in the 2001–2021 war. A highly reclusive figure, he has almost no digital footprint except for an unverified photograph and several audio recordings of speeches.

Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid is an Afghan militant commander and cleric who is the second deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting defense minister in the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime since 2021. He has been a deputy leader of the Taliban since 2016, and was additionally appointed to his ministerial role after the Taliban's victory over Western-backed forces in the 2001–2021 war. He has been the Taliban's military chief since 2020.

Usman Ghazi was the Emir of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant group based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He succeeded Usman Adil after the latter's death in a drone strike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State–Taliban conflict</span> 2015–present armed conflict in Afghanistan

The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP) and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The conflict initially began when both operated as insurgent groups in Nangarhar; since the creation of the Taliban's emirate in 2021, IS-KP have targeted and assassinated Taliban members using hit-and-run tactics. The group have also caused incidents and attacks across the border in Pakistan.

Mullah Abdul Latif Mansour is a politician in Afghanistan. He is currently serving as the acting Minister of Energy and Water, a position he held since 7 September 2021. He is considered a senior leader of the Taliban religious organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Leader of Afghanistan</span> Head of state of Afghanistan

The Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, officially the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and also styled by his religious title Amir al-Mu'minin, is the absolute ruler, head of state, and national religious leader of Afghanistan, as well as the leader of the Taliban. The supreme leader wields unlimited authority and is the ultimate source of all law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan</span> Breakaway Taliban faction founded in 2015

High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (HCIEA) (Pashto: دٙ اَفغانِستان اِسلامي اِمارَت عالي شوریٰ, romanized: Də Afġānistān Islāmī Imārat Ālī Šūrā ; Dari: شُورٰایِ عٰالئِ اِمٰارَتِ اِسلٰامئِ اَفغٰانِستٰان, romanized: Šūrā-yi Ālī-yi Imārat-i Islāmī-yi Afġānistān) was a breakaway Taliban faction active in Afghanistan since 2015. The faction broke away from the Taliban in 2015 following the appointment of Akhtar Mansour as the leader of the Taliban and elected Muhammad Rasul as its leader. The faction was involved in deadly clashes with mainstream Taliban in southern and western Afghanistan, leaving scores of dead on both sides. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan allegedly provided financial and military support to the faction, however, both the Islamic Republic and the faction denied this. Following the Taliban offensive of 2021 and the fall of Afghanistan to Taliban forces, the group dissolved, and its leaders pledged allegiance to the new government.

References

  1. ↑ "Taliban replaces slain top commander with brother". Reuters. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Rahmani, Waliullah (24 July 2007). "Taliban Commander Mansoor Dadullah Follows his Brother's Footsteps". The Jamestown Foundation . Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  3. ↑ "Afghan Taliban splinter group names Mullah Rasool as leader". BBC. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Taliban: Bin Laden alive and well Archived 2008-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Taleban sack military commander". BBC News. 29 December 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
  6. ↑ Pennington, Matthew (11 February 2008). "Senior Taliban figure caught in Pakistan". USA Today . Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  7. ↑ Baabar, Mariana (September 8, 2013). "Dadullah among seven Afghan Taliban detainees released". The News International . Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  8. ↑ "IS emergence sounds alarms in Afghanistan". The Express Tribune. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "Taliban's New Leader in Afghanistan Moves to Quash Dissent". The New York Times. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor Dadullah joined ISIS, the terror group claims". Khaama Press. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Taliban's New Leader in Afghanistan Moves to Quash Dissent". New York Times. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "Disaffected Dadullah denies joining Daesh after rumors". Pajhwok. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Picture of Mullah Dadullah's dead body found by Pajhwok".
  14. ↑ "Leader of Taliban Splinter Group Allied With ISIS Is Killed". The New York Times. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Breakaway Taliban faction names new leader in Afghanistan". Archived from the original on 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.