Taliban leaders have been embroiled in a major row at the presidential palace in Kabul following a dispute over the formation of the new government, sources have revealed.

Supporters of two rival factions reportedly brawled at the presidential palace in the capital Kabul.

An argument broke out between the Taliban’s co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani, the minister of refugees in the current government and a prominent leader of the Haqqani network, sources told BBC Pashto.

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.

According to a Taliban source, the two exchanged strong words while their supporters clashed with each other nearby.

The Taliban has denied both the reports of rift and rumours as “baseless propaganda”.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was one of the co-founders of the group and headed the Taliban’s political office, was tipped to be the next prime minister by Taliban officials. But instead he was made first deputy to interim prime minister Mullah Hassan Akhund.

The dispute came to light after Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, disappeared from view for several days.

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.

Mr Baradar reportedly wanted to put emphasis on the diplomatic efforts, for which he was largely responsible, while the Haqqani group placed more emphasis on the military victory that paved the way for the takeover.

Mr Baradar was the first Taliban leader to communicate directly with a US president, having a telephone conversation with Donald Trump in 2020. Before that, he signed the Doha agreement on the withdrawal of US troops on behalf of the Taliban.

Baradar left for Kandahar following arguments late last week, a spokesman said. But he seemed to contradict this later telling BBC Pashto that he was “tired and wanted some rest”.