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Afghan Taliban announce successor to Mullah Mansour

Mansour was killed in a US drone strike

BBC

The Afghan Taliban have announced a new leader to replace Mullah Akhtar Mansour who was killed in a US drone strike. In a statement, the Taliban acknowledged Mansour's death for the first time and named his successor as Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Analysts say it is unlikely the group will change direction under hardline religious scholar Akhundzada. Last year the Taliban were plunged into turmoil when Mansour replaced the group's founder Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Mansour was killed in a strike on his car in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Saturday.

Under his stewardship, the Taliban refused to take part in peace talks. Instead, militant attacks escalated and became more daring.

Analysis: Waheed Massoud, editor, BBC Afghan service, Kabul

It doesn't look as if there will be a major shift in the Taliban's approach to peace talks under the new leadership. Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada was deputy to Mullah Mansour and held senior positions under the movement's founder Mullah Omar.

He comes from Kandahar in the Taliban heartlands of southern Afghanistan and seems to have been an acceptable choice for a significant number of Taliban shura (council) members.

The new leader is not as controversial as his predecessor, who led the militants for two years before news emerged that Mullah Omar was actually dead.

A Taliban statement said the new appointment had been unanimous, the same word the Taliban used when Mullah Mansour took over. Splits soon emerged after that - this time there could still be some disagreements, but probably not enough to challenge the new leader's authority.

Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, a former head of the Taliban courts, was a deputy leader to Mansour.