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BBC, quoting a statement issued by the Taliban, said, "the Taliban acknowledged Mansour's death for the first time and named his successor as Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada."

CNN International too quoted a Taliban statement that said, "The Islamic Emirate's leadership council... decided to appoint Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate and Mawlawi Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob as his deputies."

 

Little is known about the leader except that Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada is a religious scholar and former head of the Taliban courts, and known for announcing many of the 'fatwas', media reported.

 

Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur was killed in an air-strike on Saturday in Pakistan confirmed the US and the Afghanistan governments on Monday.

 

"We have removed the leader of an organization that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and Coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups," US President Obama said in a statement on Monday.