| Ugly mutt, ain't he. |
| Shah Mansoor and his men had gained a notorious reputation for extorting and robbing civilians. |
Shah Mansoor decried the allegation during a telephone call to the Indian Times calling it a "conspiracy by my enemies."
| "I got millions o' enemies! And you is six or seven of 'em!" |
Shah MansoorÂ’s spokesman, Muhibullah Mahajir, also denied the allegations, saying some Taliban commanders had participated in the death of MansoorÂ’s brother, Mullah Deadullah. "That's why some of these commanders who were involved in the killing of Mullah Dadullah have made a conspiracy against us," Mahajir said.
Zabihullah Majahed repeated his statement on Sunday saying Shah Mansoor has been removed from power and that his followers should no longer obey him. He promised to release an audio message from Mullah Omar proving DadullahÂ’s ouster.
| Osmani was targeted and killed during a Coalition air strike in Helmand province. Taliban spies had tipped off Coalition forces about what vehicle Osmami would be travelling in and many suspect Mullah Dadullah had approved the intelligence leak. |
Internal rifts are common within the upper ranks of the Taliban leadership. Former Taliban military leaders Mullah Akhtar Osmani and Mullah Dadullah, who jointly ran the southern zone from 2003-05, had a bad history of not getting along. At one point in late 2006, Mullah Dadullah beat Osmani in front of a group of Taliban followers after a heated argument. Two months later Osmani was targeted and killed during a Coalition air strike in Helmand province. Taliban spies had tipped off Coalition forces about what vehicle Osmami would be travelling in and many suspect Mullah Dadullah had approved the intelligence leak.