The audio message was released two days after Sultan Faizy, the spokesman for the country’s First Vice President Abdul Rasheed Dostum, claimed that Mansoor was wounded in a firefight that broke out at a gathering of several Taliban figures in Pakistan.
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“We have seen the media reports. This is propaganda of the enemy”, the person talking on the message stated.
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“There is no truth to the rumours that I was either injured or killed in infighting at Pakistan’s Kuchlak area”, the Taliban chief said.
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. Omar was killed in 2013 and was in charge of the Taliban for two decades.
Mansoor is only the second leader the Taliban have had, after Omar, an elusive figure who founded the group in the 1990s.
Speculation about Mansour’s fate reached a fever pitch after unconfirmed media reports on Friday claimed that he had died, even as the group vowed to release an audio message from the leader to prove otherwise.
Mullah Manan wanted Maulavi Yaqoob to succeed his father as the supreme leader of Taliban insisting that Mullah Mansoor was not elected by majority of Taliban’s central Shura “council”.
It said that the Taliban had informed all shadow governors, district chiefs and “commanders” that Mansour would take up to eight months to recovery from his injuries, and that Haibatullah would serve as acting leader of the militia.
The Islamist motion had repeatedly denied that Mansour had been harm however the extremely uncommon audio message appeared to mirror concern at how widespread the studies had grow to be and the way damaging they might show to unity.
Some rival factions who believe Mansour used questionable means to seize power have rejected his leadership.
Mansour was declared Taleban leader on July 31, but splits immediately emerged in the group, with some top leaders refusing to pledge their allegiance to the new leader saying the process to select him was rushed and biased.
Considering Omar’s death was kept a secret for two years, questions are now being raised about the authenticity of Mansour’s tape.
But in a rare success, a US-Afghan military operation on Thursday freed more than 40 local soldiers and police held captive in a Taliban prison in the southern province of Helmand.
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They accused him of covering up Mullar Omar’s death.
