In the first public statement attributed to him, newly named Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor has called for a continuation of fighting in Afghanistan.
The insurgent group, ousted from power following a 2001 U.S.-led invasion, will keep battling Afghan government forces in “jihad until we bring an Islamic rule in the country,” said a voice attributed to Mansoor in a 30-minute message released online Saturday.
Mansoor, considered the clost ally to Mullah Mohammad Omar in the lsat years of his life, also called for unity within the Islamic Emirate, as the group refers to itself.
Divisions within the ranks, said the message, “will only please our enemies.