Taliban slam ‘baseless and biased’ UN report suggesting rifts and conflict within their ranks

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban is criticizing a U.N. report that highlighted discord and strife within their ranks. The group, on Sunday, called the report “baseless and biased”. The last seven months have seen a greater shift of power and policy-making from the capital Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar, a Taliban heartland and the base of the supreme leader. A report from a U.N. Security Council team, issued earlier this month, said there are conflicts in the Taliban over key policies, the centralization of power, and the control of financial and natural resources in Afghanistan. But the Taliban’s main spokesman on Sunday rejected the report, saying its contents are baseless and biased.