“We want to announce the sad news that Rehmani died early Tuesday,” a Taliban statement said.
Images published online showing an old aged man, identified as Mullah Rahmani, lying on a bed in a hospital. However, the location of the hospital was not revealed.
Rahmani, a member of the group’s powerful Leadership Council and a close aide to Mullah Mohammad Omar, had served as a governor of southern Kandahar and head of the southern zone during the Taliban’s regime from 1996-2001. He was most recognized for commanding insurgents in the Afghan-Soviet war.
Rahmani was also opposed the selection of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour as the leader of Taliban after it emerged that supreme Mullah Omar had died in 2013.