White house Endorsement: Report of Mullah Omar death 'credible'

WASHINGTON: The White House says the US has concluded that reports of Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar’s death are credible.

But spokesman Eric Schultz would not be drawn on a specific claim made by Afghanistan that he had died two years ago in Pakistan.

“The intelligence community is looking at these reports and continues to assess the circumstances around his death,” he said.

“But beyond that I’m not going to be in a position here to speak candidly about what we know at this point.”

There have been longstanding rumours of Mullah Omar’s demise but the latest claim is the first confirmation from the Afghan government.

The Taliban have yet to react to the reported death of their historic leader.

In April, the group published a biography of Mullah Omar describing him as still involved in ‘jihadi activities’.

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