Taliban reject Mullah Omar's death

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/181276.html

The Afghan Taliban has denied a report by a local Afghan TV network that their leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has been killed in Pakistan.

In a phone conversation from an undisclosed location, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told the Associated Press that the report is ''absolutely wrong.''

''It's only propaganda and we completely deny these rumors. He is inside Afghanistan and he is busy directing military operations with his commanders.''

"This is pure propaganda. This is not possible at all," the spokesperson added.

The denial came in reaction to a report by Afghan Tolo news channel, which reported that the Afghan Taliban leader has been killed in Pakistan.

On Monday, Tolo TV quoted an anonymous Afghan intelligence official as saying that "Mullah Omar was killed on way from Quetta to North Waziristan."

The official confirmed the killing, emphasizing that Mullah Omar was killed inside Pakistan. “It is correct that Mullah Omar has been killed," the official said.

The private television channel, however, did not provide any further details.

Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban, was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to 2001.

The Taliban leader has survived a vast US military manhunt since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began in 2001.