Mystery surrounds fate of ‘injured’ Afghan Taliban chief
Confusion surrounded the fate of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was shot in a firefight during an argument with commanders of the divided movement, after an Afghan government spokesman tweeted Friday that he is dead
By : migrator
Update: 2015-12-05 09:27 GMT
Kabul
The Islamist group has 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.
A government spokesman on Friday went further, claiming that Mansour did not survive the clash, which threatens to derail a fresh regional push to jump-start Taliban peace talks.
An Afghan Taliban image is said to show leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was reportedly shot in a firefight during an argument with commanders of the divided movement
“Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour died of injuries,” Sultan Faizi, the spokesman for the Afghan first vice president, wrote on Twitter without citing any evidence.
He did not immediately respond to AFP requests for more information.
A Taliban spokesman rejected the claim as “baseless”, telling AFP that Mansour was alive and well. The group kept longtime chief Mullah Omar’s death secret for two years.
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