Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban administration, was killed along with senior commanders in alleged Pakistani airstrikes targeting sites in Kabul, unverified claims circulating on social media said on February 27.

Pakistan's defence minister, meanwhile, declared "open war" on the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan's PM declared that Islamabad has "the full capability to crush any aggressive ambitions" they might have.

The claims that Akhundzada was dead arose amid stepped up Pakistani attacks that have followed recent cross-border airstrikes and military exchanges along the Durand Line. According to a report in Sunday Guardian, social media platforms were flooded with speculation that Islamabad may have tried to strike the Taliban’s supreme leader.

However, there has been no official confirmation from either Islamabad or Kabul pertaining to the claimed death of Akhundzada or any targeted strike against the Taliban leadership.

Islamabad has acknowledged carrying out operations but called them counter-terrorism measures aimed at militant infrastructure rather than the Taliban’s senior command. The Taliban administration, for its part, has accused Pakistan of violating Afghan airspace. It has not stated that its supreme leader was targeted or harmed, Sunday Guardian added.

Akhundzada, 58, has led the Taliban since 2016, after the killing of his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour. As the movement’s highest religious and political authority, he holds decisive influence over policy direction and governance. A highly reclusive figure, he has almost no digital footprint. Just a couple of claimed photographs of him, from decades back, are in circulaton.

Unlike several senior Taliban officials who operate from Kabul, Akhundzada is widely believed to reside in Kandahar. He rarely appears in person, a factor that often fuels speculation during periods of conflict or heightened security tensions.

It must be stressed the wave of social media claims remains unverified, and no independent confirmation has emerged to substantiate reports of the supreme leader's death.