Afghan official: Taliban insurgents loyal to rival leaders battle each other in southeast
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An Afghan official says Taliban insurgents loyal to rival leaders have been fighting in a southeastern province, with about 50 men killed in two days.
Mohmand Nostrayar, governor of the Arghandab district of Zabul province, said on Sunday that fighters in a breakaway faction led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool have been joined by Islamic State militants.
Rasool was last week elected "supreme leader" of the Taliban by a faction that does not support Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who assumed power after the death of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Afghan government announced in July that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years, precipitating a leadership crisis in the group that has waged a 14-year insurgency.