The Taliban issued what they stated was an audio recording of their leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, on Sat.in an effort to quiet speculation in that he’d been killed or wounded in an internecine shooting on Tues. within the village of Kuchlak, in Pakistan.
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The Islamist group vehemently rejected claims by militant sources and intelligence officials that Mansour was critically wounded in a shootout at an insurgent gathering near the Pakistani city of Quetta.
But the vehement denials by the radical group fell on sceptical ears, especially after they kept the death of longtime chief Mullah Omar secret for two years. Some also said he had later died of his injuries.
The man who is allegedly “Mansour” says in a relaxed drawl in the message that he is alive. “I believe he’s dead”, an unnamed senior Taliban source said.
“There is no truth in the rumours that I was either injured or killed in the infighting at Pakistan’s Kuchlak area”. “This is the enemy’s propaganda, and completely false”.
The statement released on Saturday referred to an incident in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul on Friday, in which at least eight civilians were killed in front of a mosque by mortar rounds fired by Afghan government forces.
The reported clash, which exposes dissent within the Taliban’s top ranks, comes just four months after Mansour was appointed leader in an acrimonious leadership succession. “The meeting was attended by our high officials, edited, and then sent on to the media”, said one of the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
It was not possible to verify whether the voice was really that of Mansour although some senior Taliban members said it appeared to be his.
The mystery surrounding the fate of Mansour further deepened after the Taliban released an audio clip yesterday purportedly from the militant at whose house the firefight is said to have occurred. “They should stay impartial”, the man claiming to be Mansour said.
Splits subsequently emerged among the insurgents, with some commanders saying Mansour’s selection had been biased.
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A breakaway faction of the Taliban led by Mullah Mohamed Rasool was formed last month, in the first formal division in the once-unified group. But despite the divisions, there has been no let up in insurgent attacks – and the Taliban has seen a new resurgence under Mansour.
