Mansour was thought to be gravely injured or killed in a gun battle that took place in a Taliban commander’s house in Quetta city in western Pakistan on 1 December.
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Afghan officials and local media said on Wednesday that at least four people were killed and a number of others sustained injuries in a fierce gunfight that occurred during a Taliban’s gathering in the Pakistani town, saying that Mansoor was among the wounded.
This handout photograph released by The Afghan Taliban on Thursday, which was taken on a mobile phone in mid-2014 is said to show Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour posing for a photograph at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.
It was not potential to confirm whether or not the voice was actually that of Mansour though some senior Taliban members stated it appeared to be his.
Faizy had claimed that Mansour was injured in gunfight at a meeting of the Taliban commanders in Kuchlak area of Balochistan. It wasn’t instantly potential to authenticate the message’s authenticity, though the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, had hours earlier stated the assertion can be let go soon. “We do not have any reports about the incident and the Afghan Taliban spokesman has also denied the reports”, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said during media briefing.
In the message, Mansoor denied that there had been any clash and termed reports of Taliban infighting an attempt to create fissures within the group. Commanders close to him and rival faction leaders had earlier said that he had been seriously injured and admitted to hospital where some said he had died. “This is all enemy propaganda”.
Reports of Mullah Mansour’s death less than five months after officially taking over the Taliban leadership have fueled speculation about a further splintering of the group.
Previously, the Taliban kept the death of former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar hidden for more than two years until it was similarly announced by the Afghan government.
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Mansour was declared Taliban leader on July 31 after the insurgents confirmed the death of Omar, who led the Islamist movement for about two decades. He died in 2013 however this was not confirmed till two years later.
