Why no one believes it when Taliban leader Mohammad Omar ‘dies’

“The government… based on credible information, confirms that Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban, died in April 2013 in Pakistan”, the presidential palace said in a brief statement, without specifying what the information was.

Earlier, Afghan intelligence’s National Directorate of Security said Mullah Mohammed Omar died in Pakistan in April 2013. Wednesday’s comments came after the BBC and the Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the day that unnamed sources in Afghanistan were saying the Taliban leader was dead.

The biography, posted on the Taliban’s official website to commemorate Omar’s apparent 19th year as supreme leader, described him as being actively involved in “jihadi activities” – trying to dispel speculation that he had died.

“These death confirmations and rejections are all part of a big pitch for power within an increasingly fractured and rudderless organization”, he said of the Taliban.

This year’s Taliban Eid message, which was reportedly written quite politely compared to previous notes, was welcomed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The message spoke in support of the peace talks with the Kabul government, adding that the objective is the “end to occupation” by foreign armed forces.

About two years ago, he was said to have dies, but the Taliban claimed this was untrue.

As the fog clears, we may learn that Omar’s death has finally been substantiated, or we may be back to square one, where the Taliban insists that Omar is alive with no outside confirmation of this fact.

Omar has remained a symbolic figure of unity among the Taliban even as various factions split over whether to seek a cease-fire with Ghani’s government or press ahead with their insurgency.

U.S. officials have never confirmed any of the reports and have consistently urged caution whenever news of Omar’s potential demise resurfaces.

The statement was seen as significant because many Taliban have long opposed negotiating with a government it calls a Western stooge.

If the news is true, Omar’s death would be an important moment for Afghanistan. According to the text, he was born in 1960 in the southern province of Kandahar, lost his right eye helping lead Afghan mujahedin rebels against Soviet forces in the 1980s, and has a “charismatic personality”.

Reports about the Mullah Omar’s death have been multiplying over the past few months.

The Afghan Taliban’s political chief, Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, is in favour of negotiations while military commander Abdul Qayum Zakir is against them. He has not been seen in public since fleeing to Pakistan during the invasion.

Over those years, the Taliban provided refuge to al Qaeda and many of its leaders as they plotted the September 11 terror attacks.

On the other hand, senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Vladimir Sazhin, thinks that the death of Omar would lead to fight for power within the Taliban.