Afghanistan
Afghan guerrilla commander Sirajuddin Haqqani is being considered a possible successor to Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour who is believed to have been killed in US air strikes at the weekend.
Haqqani, who has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, is widely seen by the US and Afghan officials as the most dangerous warlord in the Taliban insurgency, responsible for the most bloody attacks including one last month in Kabul which killed 64 people.
Sirajuddin Haqqani became one of two deputy Taliban commanders last year, integrating his feared militant faction known as the Haqqani Network, into the Afghan Taliban insurgency.
MEET THE NEW BOSS: The Taliban's new commander Sirajuddin Haqqani is also hiding in Pakistan.https://t.co/sJaKOW2DQx pic.twitter.com/XWAcgRCRP4
— Chuck Pfarrer (@ChuckPfarrer) May 22, 2016
According to the Afghanistan government, Mansour was killed in an airstrike conducted by the United States.
The U.S. on the other hand has not yet confirmed his death.
Mansour’s death if confirmed, could trigger a succession battle within a Taliban insurgency that has proven extremely resilient despite a decade and a half of U.S. military deployments to Afghanistan.
02:23
Residents in western Benin feel safe despite fears of spillover of terrorists from the Sahel
01:02
Ghana: EU delivers 105 military vehicles in face of jihadist threat from Sahel
01:02
Togo extends state of security emergency in north
01:04
Counterterrorism: Accra Initiative member countries meet to boost cooperation
01:00
South Korea continued nationwide anti-terror drills.
Go to video
Suicide bombing in Somalia kills at least 11 including local official