Taliban says will release audio message from new leader

Scepticism over the Taliban denials has been fueled by the secrecy which surrounded the death of the movement’s founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Ghani expressed his condolences and said a ministry of defence team would investigate the incident which he said took place during an operation in the Sayedabad district of Maidan Wardak province, an area with a heavy Taliban presence.

“If Mansour has died, the Taliban will do everything in its power to keep that a secret for as long as possible”, Kabul-based military analyst Atiqullah Amarkhil told AFP.

“It will soon be made public”, Mujahid said on Twitter.

Taliban officials on Friday strenuously denied claims that their leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, had been killed or wounded and promised to release an audio recording of him to prove he is still alive.

‘I personally believe Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada and the Emirate will announce his death at an appropriate time later, ‘ he said, employing the term the Taliban use to describe their movement.

Earlier on Friday, a spokesman of Afghan Taliban rejected the reports of the death of Mansour, saying that the reports are “baseless, untrue propaganda of the enemy and intelligence agencies trying to sow confusion among the people”.

There was no independent verification of the file, which raised the question of why the Taliban have not yet released an audio or video clip from Mansour himself to bolster their claim.

The claims over Mansoor’s death came after renewed efforts to revive peace talks with Taliban fighters.

There has been no statement so far from Mansour, who had been in effective charge of the movement at least since Omar’s death and who swiftly assumed the title of leader once it was confirmed.

Splits subsequently emerged among the insurgents, with some commanders saying Mansour’s selection had been biased.

Dozens of people were killed in clashes between rival factions last month.

Mansour’s group has seen a new resurgence in recent months, opening new battlefronts across the country with Afghan forces struggling to beat back the expanding insurgency.

Pakistan, which wields considerable influence over the militants, hosted a historic first round of peace negotiations in July. I’ve never had a fight with anyone, no meeting was held and I have not been to Pakistan.