Taliban supremo Mullah Omar is dead?

Afghan govt confirms the death of the elusive leader

ISLAMABAD:

Amid ubiquitous reports about the death of the elusive Taliban supremo, Mullah Muhammad Omar, a former minister in the Taliban regime and member of the group’s powerful leadership council says Taliban’s senior cadres have convened a huddle to ‘pick a new leader’.

The Afghan government confirmed on the basis of ‘credible information’ that Mullah Omar had died in April 2013 in Pakistan. “The government of Afghanistan believes ground for Afghan peace talks is more paved now than before, and thus calls on all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process,” it said in a statement.

Afghanistan’s top spy agency also confirmed the death of Mullah Omar ‘in a Karachi hospital’ two years ago.  “I can confirm now that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar has died in Karachi,” Hasib Siddiqi, the spokesperson for the National Directorate of Security (NDS) told the BBC Pashto late Wednesday.

He said ‘foreign sources’ have confirmed to the Afghan government that Mullah Omar had died of some illness. “We are happy that Mullah [Omar] is no more alive but we still have a lot of questions if [he had] died a natural death or there was another reason,” Siddiqi added.

A former Taliban minister dismissed the NDS claim that Mullah Omar had died in a Karachi hospital. However, he confirmed the death of the Taliban spiritual leader saying he had “died at his home in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan”.



Formally, the Taliban spokesman has not issued any statement, but informally he denied the reported death of Mullah Omar in an interview with the Voice of America. A former Taliban diplomat, however, says he doesn’t believe the reports are true. “I think this is a conspiracy,” he told The Express Tribune off the record. Analysts believe the Taliban’s silence on the reported death of Mullah Omar will only fuel speculation.

Another former Taliban minister, who is also a member of the group’s leadership council, endorsed the Afghan government claim. “Mullah Omar died of tuberculosis two years and four months ago. He was laid to rest on the Afghan side of the border,” he told The Express Tribune requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media on such a sensitive issue.

“The Taliban leaders will be going into a huddle to pick a replacement [for Mullah Omar],” he said, adding that he has also been invited to the meeting. “One of Mullah Omar’s sons had identified the body of his father before it was buried,” he said.

Rumours about Mullah Omar’s death had surfaced after a Taliban splinter group, Fidayee Mahaz, claimed earlier this month that Mullah Omar was ‘killed by Akhtar Mansoor’ nearly two years ago. The Taliban spokesman had denied the claim.

In April this year, the Taliban had released a biography of Mullah Omar after several Taliban cadres switched loyalties and joined the Islamic State, or Dai’sh, saying they have lost faith in the leadership of Mullah Omar because no one has seen him and or heard from him for 10 years.

Mullah Omar’s last audio was released in 2007 weeks after foreign and Afghan forces had killed his top military commander Mullah Dadullah Akhund in southern Afghanistan. The Express Tribune has a video in which Mullah Omar condemned Dadullah’s brother Mansoor Dadullah for arresting some Taliban commanders over suspicion they had spied on the slain commander. There has been no audio message since then and the Taliban have been issuing ‘Eid messages’ in his name.

Mullah Omar’s possible successor

If the reports of Mullah Omar’s death are true, the million-dollar question is who would succeed him? Taliban sources told The Express Tribune that consultations were under way and a successor would be unveiled before the next round of peace talks scheduled to be held in Pakistan on July 31. “The decision could take some time in view of differences over a new leader,” according to a Taliban leader. “If the leaders fail to reach a consensus, then a Shura (council) could be formed to run the daily affairs for some time.”

Rumour has it that Mullah Baradar Akhund could succeed Mullah Omar as the new supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban. Mullah Omar had appointed Mullah Baradar and Mullah Ubaidullah Akhund as his deputies while he was alive. Mullah Ubaidullah died in a jail in Pakistan, leaving Mullah Baradar as the only choice.

Mullah Baradar was reportedly released by Pakistan along with some other Taliban leaders in 2013. Some Taliban leaders, however, insist he has not been allowed to reunite with his family. Taliban leaders told The Express Tribune that Mullah Baradar enjoys the support of Sayed Tayyab Agha, the head of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar. Tayyab Agha himself was a close confidante of Mullah Omar. Sources say Mullah Yaqub, the son of Mullah Omar, also favours Mullah Baradar to succeed his father.

Other Taliban sources say the incumbent Taliban acting chief, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who was the aviation minister in the Taliban cabinet, is also among the aspirants for this position. However, sources added that Mansoor’s reputation among the Taliban has been dented by some of his controversial decisions, especially the appointment of some leaders.

Another choice for Mullah Omar’s successor could be Mullah Yaqub, his son. Yaqub recently graduated from a religious school in Karachi. However, several Taliban leaders believe Yaqub is too young and may not be ‘suitable’ for the job. A Taliban leader told The Express Tribune that Mullah Omar never wished for someone from his family to succeed him. Mullah Omar’s brother Mullah Abdul Manan has also been actively involved in Taliban affairs in recent years.


Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2015.