Kandahar: An official of Afghanistan’s intelligence services said Monday claimed that Taliban leader Mullah Omar had “disappeared from his hideout” in Pakistan, but could not confirm that he had been killed despite an earlier claim.
“We can confirm that he has been disappeared from his hideout in Quetta, Balochistan,” said Lutfullah Mashal, spokesman for the National Directorate of Security (NDS).
“He has been disappeared from his location during the last four to five days,” he added, “So far we cannot confirm the killing of Mullah Omar officially.”
Mashal’s comments came hours after one Afghan intelligence source called a handful of reporters to tell them on condition of anonymity that Omar had been killed in Pakistan by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
The Taliban have denied that he is dead or missing. Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has said the claim was “pure propaganda”.
His Pakistani counterpart Ehsanullah Ehsan said the news “has been spread to weaken the Taliban.”
The claim came exactly three weeks after the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALs in Pakistan.
It was not immediately clear exactly how Afghanistan would have such detail on Omar’s movements, although Mashal said the information came from “our sources and senior Taliban commanders.”
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