Taliban Leader Mullah Omar Died 2 Years Ago: Afghanistan  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Afghanistan asserted Wednesday, July 29, 2015, that the Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, died more than two years ago in a Pakistani hospital — an announcement that injects new uncertainty into the country's fragile peace process.

If confirmed, the surprising news of the death of Mullah Omar would remove a unifying figure for the insurgents, who are believed to be split on whether to continue the war or negotiate with the government of President Ashraf Ghani.

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.

The Afghan government's announcement came just two days before a second round of peace talks between the government and negotiators claiming to speak for the Taliban leadership. It also raises questions about the authority of Taliban representatives who attended a first round of talks in Pakistan on July 7, as well as earlier informal meetings in Qatar and Norway.

Abdul Hassib Sediqi, the spokesman for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, said Mullah Omar died at a hospital in the Pakistani city of Karachi in April 2013.

"We confirm officially that he is dead," Sediqi told The Associated Press.

"He was very sick in a Karachi hospital and died suspiciously there," he said, without elaborating.

A statement later Wednesday from the office of the president said it had confirmed the death based on what it called "accurate information" and insisted that Mullah Omar's demise would benefit peace efforts.

"The Afghan government believes that the ground for the Afghan peace talks is more solid now than before and thus calls on all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity to join the peace process," the statement said.

The one-eyed, secretive head of the Taliban sheltered Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida in the years leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, and then waged a decade-long insurgency against U.S. troops after the 2001 invasion that ended Taliban rule. He fled into Pakistan on a motorcycle and was never seen again.

AP