Senior Taliban leaders are doubtful of the authenticity of the audio message that seemed to prove that the group’s chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was alive as Afghan officials said they are still trying to verify the clip.
According to the Express Tribune, the insurgent group released the 16-minute file after reports citing multiple intelligence and militant sources claiming the Taliban chief was killed in a firefight on Tuesday inside Pakistan.
However, doubts continued to linger among the group’s senior ranks, who are distrustful of their leadership following a two-year cover-up of the death of the Taliban’s founder and first leader Mullah Omar.
A senior Taliban source said that it was a fake audio, adding that he believes he is dead.
