More resignations as Taliban try to heal leadership rift

Kabul

Two more senior figures in the Taliban's Qatar political office have resigned, militants said yesterday, as the movement began efforts to reconcile feuding factions amid an increasingly bitter leadership struggle.

 Splits have emerged at the top of the Taliban following the appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mansour as replacement for Mullah Omar, the movement's founding leader whose death was confirmed last week.

 Some top leaders of the Islamist insurgency, including Omar's son and brother, have refused to pledge allegiance to Mansour, saying the process to select him was rushed and even biased.

 Tayeb Agha, the head of the Qatar political office set up in 2013 to facilitate talks with Kabul, resigned on Monday in protest at Mansour's appointment and on Thursday two more members followed suit.

 Former diplomat Aziz Rehman and Mawlavi Nek Mohammad, who served as a deputy minister during Taliban rule, both stepped down, according to a statement issued through a recognised Twitter account used by the political office.

 The insurgent group yesterday named Tayeb's deputy Muhammad Abbas Stanakzai, who served in the 1996-2001 Taliban government, as the acting head of the Qatar office.