Afghanistan says Taliban leader died two years ago

An Afghan government official earlier told Anadolu Agency that the information had been passed on by Pakistan and that Mullah Omar had died of an illness.

The US-led invasion was prompted by the Taliban’s alliance with Al-Qaeda in following the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in New York.

The US State Department’s spokesperson, John Kirby, said the the US can not confirm Omar’s death.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office insisted its intelligence about Mullah Omar was “accurate”, and that his demise would benefit the peace talks, aimed at ending the war that has gripped the nation since a U.S.-led coalition of forces drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan 14 years ago.

“The government believe the grounds for the Afghan peace talks are now paved more than before and thus calls on all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process”.

In recent months, the talks, along with growing confusion and disagreement over Omar’s status, have proved divisive within the Taliban, leading some commanders to publicly question the group’s leadership or even break away.

A Pakistani security official, also speaking on condition he not be named as he wasn’t authorized to brief journalists, had earlier dismissed rumors of Mullah Omar’s death as “speculation” designed to disrupt peace talks.

This story has been corrected to show the last name of the intelligence spokesman is Sediqi, not Seddiqi.

The announcement from spokesman Sayed Zafar Hashemi came after unnamed government and militant sources told media the one-eyed leader died two or three years ago.

In Washington, the U.S. government said they considered the report of the Taliban leader’s death credible, though it was not confirmed by the Taliban or Pakistan.

He added that a faction within the Taliban wanted one of Omar’s sons to take over, while another favored the promotion of political leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who has been among those who support peace talks.

“The Taliban could not be immediately reached on the government’s comments about Omar, who has been declared dead many times before”, notes AP.

A White House spokesman, Eric Schulz, said in a briefing that U.S. officials were aware of the reports and found them “credible”.

Mullah Omar led the Taliban to victory over rival Afghan militias in the civil war that followed the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

A member of the Quetta Shura, the Taliban’s governing council, voiced doubt over whether that message – released just before Eid-ul-Fitr – was from Mullah Omar himself.