ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR, Pakistan - The leader of the Afghan Taliban recently replaced "shadow" governors in 16 of the country's 34 provinces, as he sought to consolidate his influence over the insurgency, senior figures in the movement said this week.
A list seen by Reuters, and confirmed by the Islamist militant movement's main spokesman, names another eight provincial-level officials, including one whose job will be to offer technical support for major attacks on urban areas.
Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada took over the movement fighting to topple the Kabul government in May last year, after his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was killed in southwestern Pakistan by a missile fired from a U.S. drone.
The Afghan Taliban has been weakened in the past by internal divisions and defections to rival groups like Islamic State, and, while senior militant sources said some new appointments would strengthen Akhundzada, there was no change in Helmand.
The southern province, much of it under Taliban control, provides the group with much of its funding through opium. Several Taliban sources said Akhundzada did not wield the same influence over Helmand that Mansour once did.
"Mullah Haibatullah is trying to consolidate his position and power, but is apparently moving forward extremely carefully," said a senior Taliban figure and ex-minister now based along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, imposing a harsh interpretation of Islamic law before being ousted by a U.S.-led military campaign.  (Reuters)