Taliban to release audio to prove their leader is alive

“However, we have noted that Taliban spokesperson has denied that any such firefight took place”, Khalilullah told weekly briefing on Thursday.

A government spokesman yesterday went further, claiming that Mansour did not survive the clash, which threatens to derail a fresh regional push to jump-start Taliban peace talks.

News reported that Afghan officials confirmed the story, while Taliban sources claimed the alleged incident never happened and no such meeting was ever held.

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansou n this undated handout photograph by the Taliban.

Afghan officials said Mansoor was fatally injured on Wednesday during a meeting of the Afghan Taliban in Kuchlak area, some 25 km from Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan.

Mansour is believed to be a proponent of talks with Afghan authorities, a deeply contentious issue that has prompted much rancour within hardline insurgent ranks.

An Afghan government official and two Taliban commanders, requesting anonymity, said on Friday that Mullah Mansour was shot on Tuesday in the home of Taliban’s chief judicial official Qazi Haybatullah in Quetta in Pakistan.

The operation conducted Thursday in Nawzad district in the southern opium-rich province of Helmand comes as speculation swirls over whether Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was killed in a firefight which broke out between insurgent commanders in Pakistan.

“There were differences on some points which later turned into harsh words, then Sarhadi opened fire and the others returned fire”, a Taliban source said. “We will release it soon, which will expose the ulterior motives of the enemy”, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a brief message in Pashto and Dari languages sent to media.

“Simply posting denials… won’t be considered credible enough, especially after Omar’s death was concealed for years”.

But splits immediately emerged in the group, with some top leaders refusing to pledge allegiance to Mansour, saying the process to select him was rushed and even biased.

A breakaway faction of the Taliban led by Mullah Mohamed Rasool was formed in November, in the first formal division in the once-unified group. He died in 2013 but this was not confirmed until two years later.

Taliban and Pakistani Forces standoff in Swat Valley, Pakistan.

Indian Ambassador to Kabul Amar Sinha has urged India to intervene in Taliban peace talks, claiming Pakistan is giving the group’s leadership to the Haqqani network.

The United States and China have been pushing for the process to restart, but frosty ties between Islamabad and Kabul have been hampering those efforts.

Sinha’s statement came following “misreporting” regarding his statement on a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Paris this week.