By Ebi Kesiena
There has been a major dispute between leaders of the Taliban, just days after they set up a new government in Afghanistan.
A senior Taliban official told the BBC that supporters of two rival factions reportedly fought at the Presidential Palace in the capital, Kabul.
Although the Taliban has officially denied the reports, it was gathered that the argument appeared to centre on who did the most to secure victory over the US, and how power was divided up in the new cabinet.
The dispute came to light after a Taliban co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, disappeared from view for several days.
One Taliban source told BBC that Mr Baradar and Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani, the Minister for Refugees and a prominent figure within the militant Haqqani network, had exchanged strong words, as their followers brawled with each other nearby.
A senior Taliban member based in Qatar and a person connected to those involved, also confirmed that an argument had taken place late last week.
The sources said the argument had broken out because Mr Baradar, the new deputy prime minister, was unhappy about the structure of their interim government.
The row also reportedly stemmed from divisions over who in the Taliban should take credit for their victory in Afghanistan.
Recall that the group seized control of Afghanistan last month, and have since declared the country an “Islamic Emirate”. Their new interim cabinet is entirely male, and made up of senior Taliban figures, some of whom are notorious for attacks on US forces over the past two decades.
