Kabul: Conflicting reports have deepened uncertainty surrounding the fate of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, after the militant group repeatedly denied he had been wounded in a gunfight with rival group leaders.
Several sources in the Taliban have said that Mansoor, was seriously wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of another Taliban leader on Tuesday.
Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said on Twitter Mansour was wounded in a firefight, while Sultan Faizy, spokesman for Afghan first Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum, tweeted that the Taliban supremo has died of his injuries.
The Afghan Taliban's main spokesman has dismissed the reports as propaganda from Afghan intelligence services meant to create divisions within the movement, saying Mansour is alive and well.
However, scepticism has been fuelled by the secrecy that surrounded the death of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, which was only confirmed in July, two years after he had died.
The incident came as the group has been divided into two factions after Mansour succeeded former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar as the hardliner group's leader after Omar was confirmed dead in late July.