Mullah Baradar issues audio message to say he is alive

New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS) Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, confirmed in an audio message on Monday that he is alive and not injured.

The message, tweeted by Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem, follows reports that Baradar was injured or killed in clashes among the Taliban, Tolo News reported.

"Taliban spokesman says rumours of the killing of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's Deputy PM, is not true. He has been saying the same thing about Haibatullah Akhundzada for the past 2 years, but so far in the past 2 years, no one saw him or heared from him until now," a Twitterati said.

Earlier reports said that Faiz Hameed, the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had rushed to Kabul following a clash between Baradar and Haqqani-supported groups in which Baradar sustained injuries.