Taliban says will issue audio message from Mullah Mansour soon

Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the supreme leader of the Taliban, in an undated photo.

Uncertainty over the fate of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour deepened on Friday, as speculation grew over a possible successor, despite repeated denials by the spokesman of the Islamist movement that he had been badly wounded in a gunfight. Taliban commanders and members who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity had the same account. “I believe it is him”, he said, but added questions would be asked over the delay in releasing the clip.

The Taliban had quickly dismissed the claim, saying it was “fabricated” by the Afghan intelligence agents as part of its propaganda campaign to create panic among the Taliban. It should be noted that the Taliban has a history of denying news stories that could harm the public perception of their strength.

The Afghan government’s announcement last summer that Mullah Omar had died almost two years earlier in Pakistan derailed nascent peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban that had been brokered by Islamabad.

The negotiations were postponed after the announcement of the Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s death in late July, and his replacement by Mansoor.

Taliban and Pakistani Forces standoff in Swat Valley, Pakistan.

“But they will do everything in their power to hide Mansour’s injury or death, which could provoke fresh infighting within the group or lead to further fragmentation”.

“Mansour was seriously injured”.

The man also offered his condolences to the relatives of civilians killed in the central Wardak province in a firefight between government forces and the Taliban on Friday – three days after Mansour was allegedly shot. “They are trying to prove in that there are differences among Taliban in that are getting so grave in that they now fight against each other”. The leader of the Afghan Taliban vowed to continue his group’s bloody, almost 14-year insurgency in an audio message released Saturday, urging his fighters to remain unified.

He also speculated that Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, Mansour’s second deputy, would likely take over the leadership.

Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor has released a rare audio recording in which he denies claims by an Afghan official that he was wounded in a shootout during a meeting with other commanders in Pakistan last week.