KABUL: Taliban officials on Friday strenuously denied claims that their leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, had been killed or wounded and promised to soon release via video evidence of him to prove he is still alive.
The militants’ chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, dismissed reports by government officials and rival groups that Mullah Mansour had been shot in a gunfight that broke out between rival insurgent factions during peace talks this week. But he also tacitly acknowledged the credibility problem faced by the group, which denied for years that its previous leader,Mullah Muhammad Omar, had died, then finally acknowledged it two years after the fact.
“We have already put efforts into sending our men to get a voice recording of the emir himself in order to avoid the growing confusion and assure the people about his well-being,” Mr. Mujahid said on Friday, referring to Mullah Mansour.(New York Times)
