Media reported the death of the founder of the movement “Taliban” – RBC

One of the residences of leaders of the Afghan “Taliban,” Mullah Mohammad Omar near Kandahar. Archival photo

Photo: REUTERS 2015

The fact that the leader of the Afghan died “Taliban” Mullah Mohammad Omar, said the BBC -SI, with reference to the Afghan authorities. According to sources, television and radio in the Afghan government and intelligence, Omar died two or three years ago. Other details were not disclosed.

The representative of the “Taliban” has refused to comment on the report, noting that the move will release an official statement soon.

Source Reuters the Afghan government said that the authorities will press a conference on the death of Mullah Omar.

Earlier in the media repeatedly, there were reports about the death of Taliban leader, but before this information was not confirmed by the Afghan authorities.

During the civil war in Afghanistan that followed the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the movement “Taliban” under the leadership of Omar began to expand, the number of fighters the organization has increased, they began to seize Afghan cities. The outcome of the Civil War was the formation in 1996 of a new state of Afghanistan Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which controlled most of the country. Partially recognized state existed until 2001, during this period, Mullah Omar was in fact the head of Afghanistan.

The leader of the Taliban supported terrorist number one – the leader of “al-Qaeda” Osama bin Laden, who was killed by US special forces in 2011 .

Mullah Omar was on the run since 2001, when US forces entered Afghanistan. Since then, almost nothing about him could be heard. The movement “Taliban” in a few years has released a message purporting to be from his name. The US State Department announced a reward of $ 10 million on his head.

In April 2015, “the Taliban” published biography of Mullah Omar, in which the disclosure of information about the private life of the leader, still largely unknown. According to the biography, Mullah Omar was born in 1960 in the village of Chah-i-Himmat Hakrez near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.

The text states that after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, he dropped out of school and He becomes jihadists. In the battles with Russian forces in the period from 1983 to 1991, he was wounded four times and lost his right eye.

The paper argues that Mullah Omar’s favorite weapon was the antitank grenade RPG-7, and that he had a specific sense of humor. The Taliban did not disclose the whereabouts of their leader, but pointed out that he is in constant contact with the movement.

As the BBC BBC referring to experts, the publication of the biography of the leader of the Taliban could mean that the movement is trying to counter growing the influence of the “Islamic State” (IG) in the ranks of their fighters.