Afghanistan deputy PM Mullah Baradar not killed in factional clash: Taliban release his audio

The Taliban have denied that one of their top leaders and Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Bardar has been killed in a shootout with rivals.

Sulail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman, said Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, former head of the Taliban political office who was named deputy prime minister last week, issued a voice message rejecting claims he had been killed or injured in a clash.

The Taliban denials follow days of rumours that supporters of Baradar had clashed with those of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is the head of the Haqqani network.

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The Taliban denial comes following rumours about internal splits in the movement nearly a month after its lightning victory over the Western-backed government in Kabul.

The Taliban also released video footage purportedly showing Baradar at meetings in the southern city of Kandahar but the footage couldn't be immediately verified.

Baradar led the diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement with the United States in Doha.

Baradar, once seen as the likely head of a Taliban government, had not been seen in public for some time and was not part of the ministerial delegation which met Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in Kabul on Sunday.