Afghan official: Taliban insurgents loyal to rival leaders battle each other in southeast

Published November 08, 2015

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.

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.

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