The Afghan Taliban have named Haibatullah Akhunzada their new leader, a spokesman said in a statement this morning that gave the group's first official confirmation that former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had been killed in a U.S. drone strike.

Haibatullah is a former head of the Taliban's judiciary and was deputy to Mansour.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of a network blamed for many high-profile bombs attacks in Kabul in recent years, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, will serve as deputies, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's main spokesman, said in the statement.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.