This incident never happened and it is not true.
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Afghan intelligence officials and multiple insurgent sources had claimed that Mansour had been seriously injured in a heavy exchange of fire at a gathering of militant commanders. “We will release it soon, which will expose the ulterior motives of the enemy”, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a brief message in Pashto and Dari languages sent to media.
The Taliban launched an audio message on Saturday it stated was from its leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour to counter widespread reviews that he had been wounded or killed in a shootout in Pakistan this week.
“I would like to discuss the Kuchlak issue, where my name is mentioned in some media outlets that in a shootout between two Taliban factions my injury or death resulted”, the man in the recording said, identifying himself as the group’s leader. “I haven’t seen Kuchlak in years”. There has been no meeting with any one in Kuchlak area of Pakistan for years and all the news stories about this are just a lie, he said.
The voice in the 17-minute recording is reported to be similar to previous recordings of Mansoor and Afghan officials said they were working to verify the clip.
An Afghan man reads a local newspaper with photos of the new leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015. Some rival factions who believe Mansour used questionable means to seize power have rejected his leadership.
Scepticism over the Taliban denials has been fuelled by the secrecy which surrounded the demise of the motion’s founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar. Omar was killed in 2013 and was in charge of the Taliban for two decades.
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.
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Last month, the breakaway faction of the Taliban elected its own leader, Mullah Mohammed Rasool Akhund, sparking speculation over the unity of the group. They accused him of covering up Mullar Omar’s death.
