Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was wounded in a gunfight Wednesday following an argument at a meeting in Pakistan of militant commanders, AFP reported, citing officials.
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Regarding Mansour, Pakistani and Afghan officials say that the militant leader was at least seriously wounded in the clash near the Pakistani city of Quetta, near the southern Afghan border.
“We are trying to establish whether Mansoor is dead or alive”, said Afghanistan spokesman Sultan Faizi.
The source near the Taliban said the dismissal appeared to be spontaneous rather than planned.
The Taliban’s spokesman denied that the firefight took place.
The incident occurred just four months after Mansoor was appointed Taliban chief in a deeply acrimonious leadership succession following the death of the outfit’s founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, who led the movement for some two decades.
Mansoor is believed to be under pressure by Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service to restart peace talks with the Afghan government, which has further inflamed divisions within the movement between pragmatists and hardline militants.
According to some officials in the Kabul government, Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, a senior commander in the group that opposes Mansour, was killed in last month’s fighting, although the claim has been denied by a spokesman for his faction.
Faizi said Mansur became embroiled in a heated exchange with Mullah Abdullah Sardari, a Taliban commander.
Two former Afghan Taliban commanders have claimed the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
But the talks stalled soon thereafter when the Taliban belatedly confirmed the death of their longtime leader Mullah Omar. But even US intelligence officials were surprised when the Taliban admitted in July that Omar had died years earlier.
“The Indian Prime Minister approached Premier Nawaz Sharif and had a brief meeting with him”, the statement said, adding that the leaders seemed “friendly” and parted with a “warm handshake”.
“There are elements within Afghan government who want to divide the Taliban”.
“No such incident has happened, because he is in Afghanistan not in the area of Pakistan they have mentioned”.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said he is open to peace talks with the Taliban.
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