Mullah Akhtar Mansour wounded in shootout: Sources

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was injured in a firefight following a verbal dispute at a meeting of militant commanders in Pakistan, sources said.

“Mansour was seriously injured. He was rushed to hospital and we are not sure if he survived his wounds,” Sultan Faizi, the spokesman for the Afghan first vice president, told AFP.

Two Taliban commanders said Mansour, whose authority is disputed by rival factions in the Islamist movement, was wounded when fighting broke out over strategic issues in the house of a senior Taliban leader called Mullah Abdullah Sarhadi outside Quetta in western Pakistan.

An Afghan intelligence source confirmed his account, and insurgent sources also told AFP Mansour had been injured.

However, members of the Afghan Taliban dismissed claims that their leader was injured in a gunfight during a gathering of several Taliban figures in Pakistan as “propaganda” aimed at dividing the group.

“Mullah Mansoor is perfectly well, he is not injured. I spoke to him a while ago. This incident is propaganda to prove us weak,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Al Jazeera.

According to a senior Taliban commander and close aide to Mansoor, the news was an attempt to confuse and further divide the Taliban.

The conflicting reports underscore the turmoil over Mansour’s authority, which has been questioned by rival factions within the Taliban. Mansour was named the new Taliban chief in July after the militant group confirmed the death of Mullah Omar, who had led the movement for close to two decades.