The belated revelation that Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar has been dead for more than two years delivered a serious blow to a nascent, Pakistani-brokered peace process aimed at ending the group’s long-running insurgency in Afghanistan.

Islamabad in recent months has increasingly exerted its influence to press Taliban leaders to come to the bargaining table, after years of tacit support for the Islamist movement’s fight against the Kabul government and its U.S. and other Western backers.

In early July, Pakistan hosted a high-level meeting between Afghan officials and Taliban representatives. Negotiators had arrived in Islamabad on July 29 in preparation for a second round of talks, before news of Mullah Omar’s death prompted a postponement.

New Taliban leaders selected last week at a gathering in the western Pakistani city of Quetta are viewed as close to Islamabad, relative to others within the Taliban movement. But their selection was met with opposition in the Taliban’s top ranks and widened divisions in the group, which was already split over participation in peace negotiations.