It was not immediately possible to confirm the message’s authenticity, although the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, had hours earlier said the statement would be released soon. The statement itself referred to an episode that took place Friday in which civilians were killed by the Afghan National Army in an accidental attack.

Image Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the supreme leader of the Taliban, in an undated photo. Credit... Reuters

Two Taliban officials who knew Mullah Mansour, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect themselves from capture, confirmed that the audio was his voice and they believed it to be genuine.In recent days there were reports from some Taliban quarters as well as from the Afghan government that Mullah Mansour had been either killed or wounded in the shootout, which was said to have erupted after a dispute between the mainstream Taliban leader and dissidents.

The dissidents were said to be upset by the killing of a breakaway leader, Mullah Mansour Dadullah, and hundreds of his followers, in fighting with the mainstream Taliban. Mullah Dadullah had reportedly aligned with the Islamic State.

“Do trust me if I say that I have never been to Kuchlak for years,” the man in the recording said. “I am among my friends, fine, sound and well.” There was no proof, however, that the Taliban leader had not been wounded, as some accounts had insisted. Kuchlak is a suburb of Quetta.

While the man purported to be Mullah Mansour in the recording said that “we would never fight for leadership positions,” the new Taliban leader has faced significant opposition from within the Taliban’s ranks, in addition to the Mullah Dadullah faction, since he emerged as the Taliban’s leader this summer.