Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor succumbs to injuries

Reports said that Mansour was critically injured in a gunfight on Wednesday in an argument with commanders in the militant group, reports quoting Afghanistan officials said.

It remains unclear whether Mansour survived the gunfight, which threatens to derail a renewed regional push to jump-start peace talks with the Taliban.

Sultan Faizi, the spokesman for the Afghan first vice president said that they are trying to establish if Mansour was dead.

The discrepancy in the number of prisoners freed could not immediately be explained.

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.

Akhunzada, who was the deputy chief of Taliban and was the member of the supreme council, has reportedly been appointed as the new caretaker chief.

“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.

And in the most extraordinary step, the Taliban released an audio tape from the man in whose house Mansour was supposedly shot, denying it had happened.

According to the reports, Mr. Haybatullah had convened a meeting between Mullah Mansour and one of Mullah Dadullah’s followers, Mullah Abdullah Sarhadi, which ended in a shootout, supposedly killing Mullah Sarhadi and either killing or wounding Mullah Mansour.

“The sheer volume of rumours… will pressure the Taleban to offer proof that he’s alive”, a Western official in Kabul said.

Mullah Mansour concealed the information about Mullah Omar’s death for more than two years in order to keep the outfit united.

Scepticism has also been fuelled by the secrecy that surrounded Taleban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar’s death, which was confirmed only in July, two years after he died.

The media citing a former Taliban leader, Mullah Amir Khan Mutaqi, reported Mansour’s death on Thursday.

The rivalry between the factions led to fierce fighting in the southeastern province of Zabul last month with dozens of people killed. The raid marks a rare success for Afghan forces struggling to beat back the stubborn insurgency rapidly expanding north from its southern hotbeds.

Meanwhile, the US military said Friday that Special Forces soldiers in a joint operation with Afghan partners successfully freed 40 Afghan security personnel from a Taliban prison.