‘Dead or alive?’: Rumours develop as Taliban’s supreme chief, deputy PM absent from public eye

Two senior Taliban leaders have gone lacking from public view, resulting in questions in Kabul about whether or not they’re alive or lifeless, a report by The Guardian stated on Tuesday.
The motion’s supreme chief, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, has not been seen in public ever because the Taliban seized Kabul on August 15. However, a public assertion was issued on his behalf when the brand new authorities was shaped by the Taliban.
Apart from Akhundzada, rumours are additionally rife about Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of many group’s unique members, being killed or badly injured in a shootout with rivals following talks of inside splits inside the motion.

“There have been rumours in Kabul that he had been killed or badly injured in a fight with another senior Taliban figure during an argument about how to divide Afghanistan’s ministries,” the report says.
However, the Taliban on Tuesday rejected claims about Baradar and launched photographs of a handwritten be aware from one among Baradar’s deputies, saying he was in Kandahar. The group additionally shared an audio message purportedly from Baradar.
“The absence of a video raised more questions with Afghans as the Taliban are no longer an insurgent group in hiding, and Baradar’s face is well known due to his international role,” The Guardian in its report stated.
Taliban troopers stand at an amusement park in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 8, 2021. (Reuters)
“Videos and a photo also shared online, purporting to show Baradar in Kandahar, did not feature anything that could confirm when they were taken,” it added.
According to Reuters, the denials observe days of rumours stating that supporters of Baradar had clashed with these of Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of the Haqqani community, that’s based mostly close to the border with Pakistan and has been blamed for a number of the worst suicide assaults of the warfare.
Speculation over Taliban leaders has been fed by the circumstances surrounding the loss of life of the motion’s founder, Mullah Omar, which was solely made public in 2015 two years after it occurred, setting off bitter recriminations among the many management.
The Taliban have repeatedly denied the hypothesis over inside divisions.
(Inputs from Reuters)