Audio message claims Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansour is ‘alive’

Karachi, Dec. 6 : The Afghanistan Taliban on Saturday released an audio message claiming it to be from their leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour and slammed reports of his death saying it was ‘propaganda’.

According to the Dawn, the 16-minute audio recording says that ‘rumours’ of Mansour’s death had been planted deliberately to weaken the Taliban.

The man who is allegedly ‘Mansour’ says in a relaxed drawl in the message that he is alive.

“I didn’t have a fight with anyone, no meeting was held and I have not been to Kuchlak (near Quetta in Pakistan) in years.” the message added.

However, multiple reports claim that Mansour has either been critically wounded or killed in a firefight on Tuesday at an insurgent gathering in Kuchlak.

Sultan Faizi, the spokesman for the Afghan first vice president who had tweeted earlier than Mansour was dead, did not confirm the authenticity of the message and said he was not certain if the message was from the Taliban leader. (ANI)