--- description: After weeks of discord, the militant organization has accepted the organization's Mullah Akhtar Mansour as its new leader, reports say title: Mullah Akhtar Mansour Is New Afghan Taliban Leader image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc351162a5c0273f9/698863f75f570f5d42b1d657/ap_233747633250.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Afghanistan](/tag/afghanistan/) ## Afghanistan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Divided Afghan Taliban Has Finally Accepted Its New Leader, Reports Say by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 17, 2015 6:22 AM CUT  In this Aug. 1, 2015, file photo, an Afghan newspaper headlines pictures of the new leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, left, and former leader Mullah Omar, in Kabul In this Aug. 1, 2015, file photo, an Afghan newspaper headlines pictures of the new leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, left, and former leader Mullah Omar, in KabulRahmat Gul—AP by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 17, 2015 6:22 AM CUT After weeks of discord, resistant family members of late Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, have accepted the organization’s new leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, a source close to the Taliban has told the [BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34272028 "undefined"). While Mansour had been close to Mullah Omar during his leadership, some Taliban leaders, especially Omar’s relatives, were reportedly reluctant to accept his appointment, spreading concerns that the Taliban had become increasingly fractious. Mansour, a former Civil Aviation Minister in Afghanistan’s Taliban government, was quickly [appointed](http://time.com/3979717/mullah-akhtar-mansour-taliban-new-leader-mullah-omar-death-afghanistan/ "undefined") as the new head of the organization after Omar’s [death](http://time.com/3977178/mullah-omar-afghanistan-taliban-death/ "undefined") was announced in July. Born in a small village in Kandahar around 1965, Mansour has been involved with the Taliban since its early days, according to [al-Jazeera](http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/profile-mullah-akhtar-mansoor-150803174828504.html "undefined"). The family members may have little military influence, but their approval of Mansour was important to the rest of the Taliban, the BBC says. Now that they’ve finally come to accept him, other senior members of the group are expected to follow suit. “We intend to protect and keep this movement united,” a statement on the Taliban’s website reads. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34272028 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4037785/taliban-mullah-omar-new-leader-akhtar-mansour/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4037785/taliban-mullah-omar-new-leader-akhtar-mansour/"},"headline":"A Divided Afghan Taliban Has Finally Accepted Its New Leader, Reports Say","datePublished":"2015-09-17T06:22:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:00:15.881Z","description":"Mullah Akhtar Mansour is a former Civil Aviation Minister in Afghanistan's Taliban government","url":"https://time.com/4037785/taliban-mullah-omar-new-leader-akhtar-mansour/","keywords":["Afghanistan","Taliban","Leadership"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc351162a5c0273f9/698863f75f570f5d42b1d657/ap_233747633250.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joanna Plucinska","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc351162a5c0273f9/698863f75f570f5d42b1d657/ap_233747633250.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Akhtar Mansoor, Mohammad Omar","caption":"Akhtar Mansoor, Mohammad Omar","creditText":"Rahmat Gul—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/afghanistan/","name":"Afghanistan"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4037785/taliban-mullah-omar-new-leader-akhtar-mansour/","name":"A Divided Afghan Taliban Has Finally Accepted Its New Leader, Reports Say"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Dog Fighters of Kabul","description":"Throughout Afghanistan in the winter months, dog fighting is a common weekend pastime, with prize dogs worth as much as a new car.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VXJ0q8b5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-03-02T19:02:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VXJ0q8b5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4037785/taliban-mullah-omar-new-leader-akhtar-mansour/","duration":"PT3M14S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4037785/taliban-mullah-omar-new-leader-akhtar-mansour/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```