Afghan Taliban confirm death of Mullah Omar

 

Kabul, July 30 The Afghan Taliban on Thursday confirmed the death of their leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, but did not say when and where he died.

"Leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the name of the ousted Taliban regime) and the family of late Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid... today announced that Amir al-Muminin (Commander of the Faithful) Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid has passed away due to illness," the terror group said in statement.

The confirmation came a day after the Afghan government announced that Omar died in Pakistan's Karachi city more than two years ago.

The statement, according to Xinhua, did not provide details about the successor of the former Taliban leader Omar. 

Omar's brother Mullah Abdul Manan Akhond and elder son of Omar Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoub urged the Muslims to pray for the soul of the late Taliban chief.

Omar's date of birth and the exact place of birth are uncertain, but according to sources, he was born sometime between 1955 and 1962 possibly in Nodeh, a village in Panjwai district of southern Kandahar province.

Omar, who established the Taliban Movement in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in 1994 and announced his Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan after capturing Kabul in 1996, has been leading a bloody insurgency since the collapse of Taliban regime in 2001 to re-establish his Islamic Emirate in the war-torn country.

The statement came amid reports that the second round of peace talks between Taliban representatives and the Afghanistan government has been postponed.

The first round of talks between the two sides was held in Pakistan earlier this month and the second round was expected to be held in Islamabad on July 31.