Publication

This backgrounder looks at the implications of the July 2015 confirmation of the death of Mullah Omar, the commander of the Taliban in Afghanistan, as well as divisions within the Taliban for the situation in Afghanistan. More specifically, the authors 1) provide an overview of who Mullah Omar was; 2) argue that Mullah Omar’s death will exacerbate existing fractures within the Taliban and accelerate a power grab among several prominent individuals who have fundamental disagreements over the objectives of the movement; 3) discuss what these internal divisions within the Taliban might mean for the conflict in Afghanistan; and 4) analyze how the so-called Islamic State will likely exploit these tensions to expand its presence and operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Finally, they provide recommendations on how US policymakers should respond to the situation in Afghanistan.