The Taliban don’t only attack other people; factions of the Taliban sometimes battle each other.
For the last four days, two Taliban groups have waged gun battles in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan, Ata Mohammad Haqbayan, the head of the Provincial Council in Zabul, said Tuesday.
On one side are fighters loyal to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, and on the other are fighters loyal to Mullah Mohammad Rasool, the leader of a Taliban splinter group.
A deadly suicide attack
So far, about 100 Taliban fighters from both sides have been killed, including some Uzbek fighters who are siding with Rasool’s splinter group, Haqbayan said.
On Tuesday morning, an Uzbek fighter carried out a suicide attack on Mansour’s senior members in the province, killing some of them, according to Haqbayan.
The division in the Taliban came after the group acknowledged in late July the death of its leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and his replacement with Mansour.