Mullah Mansoor

The Afghan Taliban have announced the start of their warm-weather fighting season, an annual declaration marking the launch of a violent summer.

The Afghan Taliban issued an audio message on Saturday and claimed it was from their chief Mullah Akhtar Nuhammed Mansoor, denying reports of his death or injury in a firefight in Pakistan.

Fierce clashes have erupted between two rival Taliban groups in southern Afghanistan, officials said today, reportedly leaving dozens dead in the first internecine fighting since a breakaway faction of the Islamist movement appointed its own leader.

Months after his country agreed to cooperate with Pakistan's intelligence agencies, former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has said that the agreement would not be implemented.

The son of late Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has reportedly been killed, sections of the Afghan media reported today.

New Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor called for unity in the movement in his first audio message released Saturday amid reports of rifts in their ranks following the announcement of the death of former chief Mullah Omar.

Taliban's newly anointed chief, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, may have kept fellow insurgents in the dark for the past two years by claiming to pass orders and messages from Mullah Muhammad Omar, even though he knew that his boss had died in 2013, according to a media report.

The Afghan Taliban have announced the start of their warm-weather fighting season, an annual declaration marking the launch of a violent summer.

The Afghan Taliban issued an audio message on Saturday and claimed it was from their chief Mullah Akhtar Nuhammed Mansoor, denying reports of his death or injury in a firefight in Pakistan.

Fierce clashes have erupted between two rival Taliban groups in southern Afghanistan, officials said today, reportedly leaving dozens dead in the first internecine fighting since a breakaway faction of the Islamist movement appointed its own leader.

Months after his country agreed to cooperate with Pakistan's intelligence agencies, former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has said that the agreement would not be implemented.

The son of late Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has reportedly been killed, sections of the Afghan media reported today.

New Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor called for unity in the movement in his first audio message released Saturday amid reports of rifts in their ranks following the announcement of the death of former chief Mullah Omar.

Taliban's newly anointed chief, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, may have kept fellow insurgents in the dark for the past two years by claiming to pass orders and messages from Mullah Muhammad Omar, even though he knew that his boss had died in 2013, according to a media report.