Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor has taken over as the head of the Afghan Taliban after the death of Mullah Omar was confirmed by the group.

Born in the 1960s in Kandahar province to the Ishaqzai tribe he grew up in the Maiwand district close to Mullah Omar's home. 

He is known to have been one of the founder members of the Taliban movement who at first fought the brutality of the warlords in their area.

He went on to become the governor of Kandahar and then rose to became the Aviation Minister of the Taliban regime. This is when he frequently met with Osama Bin Laden since the Saudi lived close to the Kandahar airport.

Mullah Mansoor derives his political influence from Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban movement. Like Mullah Omar he studied in the Darul Uloom Haqqani Madrasa on the outskirts of Peshawar in Pakistan.

He is known to have surrendered in 2001 and was given amnesty by President Karzai and returned to his home. But with continuous American raids on homes of former Taliban men, he fled across the border to Pakistan where he slowly rose in the leadership.

Mansoor was one of the top leaders when Mullah Omar was alive but took prominence when Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was captured by the Pakistani military. His choice as supreme commander of the organisation has not been unanimous.

A number of senior leaders like Tayab Agha, the political head in Qatar, and Mullah Qaum Zakir, an influential military commander, wanted Mullah Yaqoob, the 26-year-old son of Mullah Omar to take up the mantle of his father.

Since Mullah Omar was also the spiritual head of the movement the passing on of the title within the family would be a continuance of this lineage.

Mansoor, who has only been given the title of Supreme Commander and not spiritual leader, is considered a moderate and pragmatic.

He has lent his support to the ongoing peace talks with the Afghan government, but due to the ongoing rift amongst the leadership the second round of talks to be held on Friday 31 July have been postponed indefinitely.

The rift was out in the open when the Taliban released a statement this morning stating their political department was unaware of the talks and it was only the media that was speculating about these peace initiatives undertaken in Pakistan. 

Mullah Omar led the Taliban for the almost 20 years and has been the binding factor for the movement. But with him gone the leadership is concerned about the future of the movement.

The Islamic State has made inroads into parts of Afghanistan and is weaning some of its commanders and foot soldiers.

Only last month Mansoor had to issue a statement warning of any split within the organisation and urging everyone to fight under the Taliban flag and no other.

Two deputy leaders Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani network and Maulauvi Haibatullah, the chief justice and head of the Ulema council, were also chosen to assist Mullah Mansoor.

The Haqqani network is one of the most lethal terrorist organisations in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

It is closely associated with al-Qaeda and is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States. It has been responsible for most of the deadly attacks in Kabul and Sirajuddin is the subject of a $5m (£3.2m) bounty.