Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, in an audio message confirmed he was alive and said he was not injured. The message, tweeted by Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem, followed reports that Baradar was injured or killed in clashes among the Taliban, Afghanistan’s Tolo News said.

Baradar blamed “fake propaganda” for the death rumours in an audio message posted by the Taliban. Grapevine in Pakistan and Afghanistan had suggested he had been infected with Covid or killed in a bombing.

“There had been news in the media about my death,” Baradar said in the clip.

“Over the past few nights I have been away on trips. Wherever I am at the moment, we are all fine, all my brothers and friends.

“Media always publish fake propaganda. Therefore, reject bravely all those lies, and I 100 percent confirm to you there is no issue and we have no problem.”

Reports earlier had suggested factionalism within the Taliban after the appointment of Mullah Hasan Akhund as its interim prime  minister Baradar as his deputy.

While it was assumed that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who served as deputy to Omar during the early years of the Taliban before assuming the position of de facto leader after Omar’s death, could be Afghanistan’s potential head of state, Akhund’s appointment signalled a power struggle within the insurgent group.

The recent conciliatory tone from Baradar on issues such as women’s rights, working with the international community and amnesty for members of the former Western-backed government runs counter to the ideology of the Haqqani network – a family-based Islamist group that has assumed the role of the Taliban’s de facto diplomatic arm.