Report: Taliban Commander Defects to ISIS

ISIS Claims They 'Rescued' Him From Taliban Assassination Plot

The Afghan affiliate of ISIS has issued a statement today, claiming Taliban commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah has defected to their side after being “rescued” in a battle in the Zabul Province.

Mansoor Dadullah is the younger brother of Mullah Dadullah, who had previously been a major Taliban leader in southern Afghanistan. Mansoor Dadullah was held by the Afghan government, and traded to the Taliban in March 2007 for a kidnapped journalist. Mansoor Dadullah was again captured by the Pakistan military in early 2008 and spent over 5 years in their prisons.

The ISIS statement claimed the Taliban had turned against the commander, and sent 2,100 fighters to Zabul to kill him. ISIS further claimed to have dispatched 230 of their fighters from Farah Province in a rescue operation.

The statement went on to claim that another top Afghan Taliban figure, Mullah Omar’s brother Abdul Manan, is planning to join ISIS rather than support the new Taliban leader, Mullah Mansour. The Taliban hasn’t issued a statement on either matter.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.