The head of Jamia al-Rasheed, Mufti Abdul Rahim, has made a startling claim that after the death of the Taliban’s founder, Mullah Omar, Mullah Mansour was appointed as leader. At the same time, Mullah Omar’s son, Mullah Yaqoob, who wanted to assume leadership, was given $500,000 to withdraw his claim.
Speaking on a private television program, Mufti Abdul Rahim said that following Mullah Omar’s death, Mullah Yaqoob insisted that he should be appointed as the leader.
Explaining how the leadership crisis was resolved, he stated that Mullah Yaqoob was very young and lacked experience. When news of Mullah Omar’s death emerged, Yaqoob demanded that he be made leader instead of Mullah Mansour.
However, due to the Taliban’s relations with various countries and ongoing high-level consultations at the time, it was decided that Yaqoob was too inexperienced and had not even spent time in Afghanistan, making him unsuitable for leadership.
Mufti Abdul Rahim further claimed that when Mullah Mansour was appointed Amir, Mullah Yaqoob became very upset, believing he had the right to succeed his father. According to him, Yaqoob was then given $500,000 to pacify him and persuade him to step aside.
It is worth noting that Mullah Yaqoob is currently serving as Afghanistan’s acting Defence Minister. Despite having lived in Pakistan for around 20 years, he continues to make hostile statements against Pakistan and speak about attacks.
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