The Taliban denied that a top leader was killed in a shootout with rivals amid rumors of internal divisions.
In a message posted to Twitter on Monday, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen denied rumors about Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Shaheen said Baradar left a voice message “rejecting all claims that he was injured or killed in a confrontation. He says it is a lie and totally unfounded.”
The Taliban unveiled their new government last week after its rapid takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August.
Reuters noted that Baradar, who was appointed deputy prime minister, had not been seen in public recently. He was also not part of the delegation that met on Sunday with Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.
According to reports, rumors had been circulating for days that supporters of Baradar had clashed with those of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who leads the militant network Haqqani, located near the border, towards Pakistan.
Haqqani had been appointed acting minister in the new government.
Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban, has also not been seen in public since the Taliban seized Kabul. However, it issued a public statement when the group formed its government, Reuters reported.