Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and the co-founder of the Taliban released an audio statement stating he was alive and well, after news of his fictional death went viral on social media are fake.

Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was last week named as a number two to Mullah Mohammed Hassan Akhund, accused “fake propaganda” for the death reports in an audio message posted by the Taliban.

Social media has been in turmoil over the conjecture chiefly in India, where reports swirled that he had been fatally injured in a shootout between rival Taliban groups at the presidential palace.

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

“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”, he said.

He further stated “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.”

It was not possible to validate the message, but it was posted on official Taliban sites counting that of the spokesman of the political office of the new government.

Furthermore, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, was also rumored to have died for several years before the group’s spokesman said he was “present in Kandahar” two weeks after they took control.