‘Mullah Mansour dead, new Taliban caretaker chief appointed’

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said enhanced security measures meant it was taking some time to contact Mansour directly, but that a voice recording would be released.

Requesting not to be named, the “source” said that Haibatullah had been appointed as Mansour’s successor at an emergency meeting attended by senior militant leaders.

He also clarified that the never had a fight with anyone and he has not been to Kuchlak area of Pakistan in years.

“Brothers, this news is baseless, there is no doubt, this is the propaganda from the enemy”.

But amid their rapid gains, confusion surrounds the fate of insurgent leader Mansoor, who was shot in a firefight during an argument with commanders of the divided movement on Tuesday.

The 16-minute file said those “rumours” had been deliberately planted to weaken the Taliban, which has seen a new resurgence under the firebrand supremo despite its internal divisions.

Another senior Taliban source told AFP news agency that the audio clip was a tactic by Mansour’s supporters to buy time to select a new leader and bring their group out of “this sudden shock”, adding, “We need more proof”.

The Taliban chief said he was “safe and healthy” and repeatedly dismissed rumors about his death and rifts in the Taliban leadership.

Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Thursday issued an official statement in which he said, “The Afghan government confirms leader of a Taliban faction, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor” was wounded in a clash near Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, “but we don’t know whether he survived”.

The Taliban, which saw its first formal split last month, has appeared anxious to quell speculation about Mansour’s fate as it grapples with divisions inside the movement.

Omar died in 2013 but his death was not confirmed until late July. Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, a top commander in the breakaway group opposing Mansour, is also reported to have been killed last month.

Mansour was thought to be gravely injured or killed in a gun battle that took place in a Taliban commander’s house in Quetta city in western Pakistan on 1 December.

The raid marks a rare success for Afghan forces struggling to beat back the stubborn insurgency rapidly expanding north from its southern hotbeds.

A renewed regional push to jump-start peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban could be derailed should it be confirmed that Mansoor had died.