Mansour’s fate still a mystery
Afghan official tweets death announcement
KANDAHAR: 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 yesterday that he has died.
The Islamist group has vehemently rejected claims by militant sources and intelligence officials that Mr Mansour was critically wounded in a shootout at an insurgent gathering near the Pakistani city of Quetta.
A government spokesman yesterday went further, claiming that Mr Mansour did not survive the clash, which threatens to derail a fresh regional push to jump-start Taliban peace talks.
“Taliban l eader 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 requests for more information.
A Taliban spokesman rejected the claim as “baseless”, saying Mr Mansour was alive and well. The group kept longtime chief Mullah Omar’s death secret for two years.
The mystery surrounding the fate of Mr Mansour further deepened after the Taliban released an audio clip on Thursday purportedly from the militant at whose house the firefight is said to have occurred.
A man claiming t o be Abdullah Sarhadi, a commander i n Mr Mansour’s group and former Guantanamo Bay detainee, staunchly rejected the reports as “enemy propaganda”.
There was no independent verification of the file, which raised the question of why the Taliban have not yet released an audio or video clip from Mr Mansour himself to bolster their claim.
“The sheer volume of rumours suggesting that something has happened to Mansour will pressure the Taliban to offer proof that he’s alive,” a Western official in Kabul said.
“Simply posting denials ... won’t be considered credible enough, especially after Omar’s death was concealed for years.”
The reported clash, which exposes dissent within the Taliban movement’s top ranks, comes just four months after Mr Mansour was appointed Taliban leader in an acrimonious leadership succession process.
If confirmed, his death could intensify the power struggle within the fractious group and increase the risk of internecine clashes.
Mr Mansour was declared Taliban leader on July 31 after the insurgents confirmed the death of Mullah Omar, who led the Islamist movement for about two decades.
But splits immediately emerged in the group, with some top leaders refusing to pledge allegiance to Mr Mansour, saying the process to select him was rushed and even biased.
Many were also unhappy that Omar’s death had been kept secret for two years — during which time annual Eid statements were issued in his name.
A breakaway faction of the Taliban led by Mullah Mohamed Rasool was formed last month, in the first formal split in the once-unified group.
Afghan officials on Wednesday confirmed reports that Mr Rasool’s deputy, Mullah Dadullah, was killed last month in a gunfight with Mansour loyalists.
Mr Rasool’s hardline faction, reported to be aligned to the Islamic State group, also poses a major challenge to peace talks with the government.