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Roundup: Mysteries shroud Taliban leader's fate as Afghan gov't confirms Mansoor's death, Taliban rejects

Xinhua, December 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ambiguity has shrouded the fate of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in the past days over a reported infighting between Mansoor's supporters and opponents near the southern Pakistani city of Quetta.

Mansoor, according to local media reports, sustained serious injuries on Tuesday and since then he has not been seen in public.

Several more Taliban loyalists were killed and injured in the gunfight, according to local media reports.

Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah confirmed Mullah Mansoor's injury on his Twitter.

Backing the report, Sultan Faizy, the spokesman for Afghan first Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, confirmed Mansoor's death on his Twitter account late Thursday.

Mansoor replaced Taliban former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in August after confirmation of the death of Omar by the Afghan government and Taliban outfit in late July.

However, assuming Taliban leadership by Mansoor has divided the hardliner group into four factions and the prominent one is led by Mullah Mohammad Rasoul, a close aide to Omar's family.

Meantime, Zabihullah Mujahid, who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit, in an a statement sent to media has dismissed the report as "absolutely baseless," saying intelligence agencies by launching such baseless propaganda were attempting to deceive the public opinions.

Local media, citing a former Taliban leader Mullah Amir Khan Mutaqi, has reported the death of Mansoor on Thursday.

But the purported Taliban spokesman Mujahid said Mansoor has never been injured nor died.

Another Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusuf Ahmadi has utterly rejected the reports about Mansoor as groundless.

In an online statement, Yusuf Ahmadi stated that no clash had taken place between Taliban in Kuchlak town of Quetta, adding Mansoor was sound and leading the Jihad (holy war) against enemies in Afghanistan.

Meantime, Afghan political analyst Mawlana Farids has confirmed the internal fighting among Taliban militants.

He told the media that "Mansoor might have been injured and even killed" but it was difficult to confirm the news because they were outside of the country.

The supporters and opponents of Mansoor have allegedly fought each other in Farah, Kunduz, Zabul, Nangarhar and other parts of Afghanistan over the past couple of months. Endit