By Rohan Joshi
Developments this summer highlight Pakistan’s continued reliance of sub-conventional warfare.
On August 8, 2015, Kabul witnessed its deadliest day since the 2001 U.S. invasion, when a series of attacks in the city left over 50 dead and hundreds injured. A suicide bomber dressed in police uniform detonated explosives outside the National Police Academy that resulted in almost 30 deaths. Then, a truck laden with explosives was detonated, killing 15 people and injuring over 200. Finally, a commando-style assault on Camp Integrity, a NATO military facility killed 10 people, including a U.S. soldier.
The attacks in Kabul come at a time when “peace negotiations” between the Afghan government and the Taliban are in a precarious position. Just a few days prior to the second round of talks between Kabul and the Taliban, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and President Ghani’s office confirmed that Mullah Muhammad Omar, the reclusive leader of the Taliban, had died in 2013.
Not everyone in the rank-and-file of the Taliban appears to agree with the Quetta Shura’s endorsement of Mullah Mansour as the new leader of the Taliban. Mansour is a product of Pakistan’s infamous Darul Uloom Haqqania madrasa, whose alumni include the likes of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the Haqqani Network.
Early indications are that Mansour, who is close to Pakistan’s Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), will find his authority challenged by other powerful leaders in the Taliban, including Tayib Agha (who resigned in protest as the chief of the Taliban’s Political Office in Qatar), Mullah Zakir (Taliban’s military commander) and Omar’s own son Yaqoob.
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