Audio message claims Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansour is ‘alive’

Afghan officials scrambled to establish whether Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour was still alive, after sources said he was critically wounded in a firefight following a bitter argument with commanders in the divided militant movement.

Mansour was announced the leader of the Taliban on 31 July soon after the terror group confirmed the death of its long-time leader Mullah Mohammad Omar after keeping his death a secret for two years.

He said “I want to assure that there had been no incident of gunfight”.

“I think it’s a faked audio. Mansour himself fooled us for two years, how can we trust this now?”

However, senior sources within the Taliban told AFP news agency they had doubts about the authenticity of the message. Some also said he had later died of his injuries.

“There is no truth in the rumours that I was either injured or killed in the infighting at Pakistan’s Kuchlak area”, the person in the message said, according to Xinhua. “This is all enemy propaganda”, the message added.

It also referred to a more recent clash on Friday in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul.

But two other Taleban officials based in Pakistan’s Quetta city said the clip was genuine and said they had been present at the recording.

“We have Ulama (religious scholars) and astute leaders who can resolve, intervene in such matters and never let it escalate to such a state”, it says.

The voice in the clip could not be independently verified while some militant commanders said it appeared to be that of Mansour.

The delay in providing proof of life message by Mulla Akhtar Mansour despite the passage of five days after the reported attack on him had contributed to the doubts and uncertainty about his fate.

Deputy provincial governor Zikria Hussaini said authorities were asking village elders to provide security for their delegation so that they can carry out an investigation.

However his authority has been rejected by some factions in the Taliban who have accused him of covering up Mullah Omar’s death and seizing power without proper authority.

The spokesperson of the breakaway faction, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, expressed interest in peace talks last month.

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