PESHAWAR/KABUL - The Taliban appointed the son of its late founder Mulla Mohammad Omar as head of a military commission on Monday and named him and his uncle to its powerful decision-making body, a spokesman said.
Mulla Omar's eldest son Mulla Mohammad Yaqoob and brother Mulla Abdul Manan were both called to the Rahbari Shura or leadership council, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi said.
The appointment of two of its founder's closest relatives would appear to strengthen current Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour, who still faces opposition from some factions within the movement after taking power last year.
Yaqoob, whose family name still carries great prestige among Taliban militants, was appointed head of the Taliban's military commission for 15 provinces of Afghanistan. "They accepted their new responsibilities and began thaeir work from Monday," Ahmadi said.
The elevation of the two men to the Rahbari Shura comes nearly seven months after they dropped their opposition to Mansour's claim on the leadership following confirmation last year that the one-eyed Mulla Omar had died some two years earlier and that his death had been covered up.
"Mansour had long offered top positions and shura membership to Mulla Abdul Manan and Mulla Yaqoob, however their formal appointment was made on Monday after approval from the shura," one member of the shura said, asking not to be named.
Members of Mulla Omar's family had initially claimed the leadership for Yaqoob but agreed to swear allegiance to Mansour, Mulla Omar's longtime deputy, after he agreed to a list of their demands, Taliban officials said last year.
Mansour's sudden nomination as leader after some militants believed he had deceived the movement over the death of Mulla Omar caused strong resentment among some Taliban, who also said he was being controlled by Pakistan.
Widespread reports last year suggested Mansour had been badly wounded in a shootout with rivals but the reports were dismissed by the Taliban, who released an audio recording it said was of Mansour to prove he was unharmed.
Google removes Afghan Taliban smartphone app
Google has removed a Taliban smartphone app from its online store, the US Internet giant said Monday, countering the tech-savvy Afghan militant group's increasing efforts to boost global visibility.
The Taliban launched their foray into smartphone apps on Friday with a Pashto language app called "Alemarah", giving access to propaganda statements and videos.
The digital campaign, first reported by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, added to the Taliban's already robust social media presence and a website in five languages including English. But barely a day after the launch, the app was no longer available for download on Google Play Store, the tech giant confirmed in a statement.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was not reachable on Monday for comment.
He told AFP on Sunday that the militant group's "technology department" was also working on a Farsi version of the app.
Once seen as uneducated thugs, the Taliban have developed a media-savvy PR team who use digital technology to reach out to audiences worldwide.
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, almost all electronic products were outlawed as un-Islamic. Photographs of living things were illegal and ownership of a video player could lead to a public lashing.
But the Taliban have avidly embraced electronic communication and social media in recent years as a recruitment tool and to promote their propaganda.
However their efforts pale in comparison to the Islamic State group, which has actively exploited social media to lure thousands of foreign fighters to Syria and Iraq and is making gradual inroads in Afghanistan.
"In this era of IS and its disturbingly tech-savvy ways, many of the older guard militant groups like the Afghan Taliban may feel they're losing out," Michael Kugelman, Afghanistan expert at the Washington-based think tank the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, told AFP.
"By tapping into these kinds of new technologies, the Taliban can demonstrate to potential recruits that it's just as technologically hip as its younger competitors," he said.