Muhammad Rasul

Rasul is believed to have been born in the mid-1960s in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.{{cite web |title=Afghan Taliban faction appoints new 'supreme leader' |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/afghan-taliban-faction-appoints-supreme-leader-151105130923880.html |website=Al-Jazeera |date=5 November 2015| access-date = 16 February 2016}}

Rasul was the Governor for Nimruz Province when the Taliban were in power during the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He is said to have had close relations with founding Taliban leader Mohammed Omar, and is considered to have been an "old and trusted friend" to him.{{cite web |title=Taliban Splinter Group Names Mullah Mohammad Rasool Akhund as Leader |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taliban-splinter-group-names-mullah-mohammad-rasool-akhund-leader-n455536 |website=NBC |date=2 November 2015| access-date = 16 February 2016}}

Rasul and his functionaries fled Nimroz following U.S. airstrikes on 13 November 2001, and his office was taken over by Abdul Karim Brahui.[https://books.google.com/books?id=R4ahq-05YuQC&dq=%22Karim+Brahui%22&pg=PA185 The Taliban and the crisis of Afghanistan]. Harvard University Press, 2008. {{ISBN|0-674-02690-X}}, 9780674026902. Pg 185-187 After the Invasion of Afghanistan, Rasul became the Taliban's shadow governor of Farah Province.

In 2015, Rasul broke away from the main Taliban leadership and established his own group, the High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The split was a result of disagreement over the ascension of Akhtar Mansour as leader of the Taliban. Rasul's followers accuse Mansour of hijacking the movement due to personal greed. Rasul says that he and his supporters tried to persuade him to step down and let the new leader be chosen by the Taliban council, but Mansour refused.{{cite web |title=Afghan Taliban splinter group names Mullah Rasool as leader |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34719314 |website=BBC |date=4 November 2015| access-date = 16 February 2016}}{{cite web |title=Breakaway Taliban Says Senior Militant Wounded but Alive |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/breakaway-taliban-says-senior-militant-wounded-but-alive/3058119.html |website=Voice of America |date=14 November 2015| access-date = 16 February 2016}}

The High Council was suspected by some to be an Iranian ally, although Iran sided with the Islamic Emirate's leadership against it.{{cite news|last=Kolenda|first=Christopher D|date=January 21, 2016|title=Five Myths to Dispel About An Afghan Peace|work=The Gandhara Briefing|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|url=http://gandhara.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-five-myths-about-afghan-peace/27501186.html|accessdate=January 28, 2016}}{{Cite web |last=Moiz |first=Ibrahim |date=2021-06-14 |title=Niazi No More: The Life and Legacy of a Taliban Mutineer - THE AFGHAN EYE % |url=https://afghaneye.org/2021/06/14/niazi-no-more-the-life-and-legacy-of-a-taliban-mutineer/ |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=The Afghan Eye |language=en-US}} They have demanded that foreign troops leave Afghanistan as a precursor for peace talks.{{cite news |last1=Raghavan |first1=Sudarsan |title=A new Taliban breakaway group claims support for peace and women's rights |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/a-new-taliban-breakaway-group-claims-support-for-peace-and-womens-rights/2015/11/08/846cdc79-6e07-4c44-9256-b2ba105eb945_story.html |accessdate=2015-11-19 |agency=The Washington Post |date=2015-11-08 |quote=Niazi echoed the Taliban's core leadership when it came to peace talks: No discussions should occur unless all U.S. and foreign troops depart the country.}} Rasul's Taliban group has voiced that neither al-Qaeda, nor the Islamic State are welcome in Afghanistan.{{cite news |title=Afghan Taliban Splinter Group's New Chief Backs Islamic State 'Brothers' -- But Only Abroad |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-taliban-faction-rasul-is-al-qaeda-islamic-state/27352225.html |accessdate=2015-11-19 |agency=Radio Free Afghanistan |publisher=RFE/RL |date=2015-11-08 |quote='They are our brothers; [but] we will not let them in [Afghanistan] nor will we agree with them in this country.'}} The group has also been reported of being supported by Afghan government though both the group and Afghan officials have denied this.{{cite web|title=Afghan Government Quietly Aids Breakaway Taliban Faction|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/19/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-faction-renouncers.html|work=The New York Times|accessdate=19 June 2017}}

Rasul's faction dissolved peacefully into the main Taliban following the Taliban offensive of 2021, ending its independent existence and turning over all of its military equipment to the Taliban.{{Cite web |title=پسر ملامنان نیازی به طالبان پیوست |trans-title=The son of Mullah Manan Niazi joined the Taliban |url=https://www.farsnews.ir/af/news/14000617000497 |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=farsnews}} In January 2022, Muhammad Rasul met with defense minister Mullah Yaqoob in Kabul and stated his support for the new government.{{Cite news |last=Kakar |first=Javid Hamim |date=2022-01-31 |title=د طالبانو د ملا رسول ډله له اوسني نظامه ملاتړ اعلانوي |language=ps |trans-title=The Mullah Rasul faction of the Taliban has announced its support for the current regime |work=Pajhwok Afghan News |url=https://pajhwok.com/ps/2022/01/31/%d8%af-%d8%b7%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88-%d8%af-%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a7-%d8%b1%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%84-%da%89%d9%84%d9%87-%d9%84%d9%87-%d8%a7%d9%88%d8%b3%d9%86%d9%8a-%d9%86%d8%b8%d8%a7%d9%85%d9%87/ |access-date=2022-06-01}}

During the Friday prayer on August 16, 2019, a powerful blast tore through a grand mosque in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The attack on the mosque, frequented by Taliban’s leadership, killed the brother and father of Hibatullah Akhundzada. The High Council of Afghanistan Islamic Emirate claimed responsibility for the attack, adding that the prime target was Haibatullah.{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbctv18.com/politics/taliban-in-troubled-waters-as-splinter-groups-target-leaders-in-quetta-4388071.htm/amp|title=Taliban in troubled waters as splinter groups target leaders in Quetta|publisher=CNBC TV|accessdate=20 September 2019}}

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• [http://static.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/17211/l_rasool_afghanistan_11132015_1.jpg image of Mullah Rasool] taken from the website > S. Metz - [http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/17211/taliban-fracture-opens-window-of-opportunity-for-afghanistan article] published by World Politics Review November 13, 2015

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{{s-bef|before= Sher Malang }}

{{s-ttl|title=Governor of Nimruz Province

|years= ?–2001}}

{{s-aft|after= Abdul Karim Brahui}}

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{{Militant Islamism in South Asia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasul, Mullah Muhammad}}

Category:Governors of Nimruz Province

Category:Politicians of Kandahar Province

Category:Taliban governors

Category:Living people

Category:1965 births