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Death of Mullah Muhammed Omar Confirmed

By Jeralyn, Section Afghanistan 2009
Posted on Thu Jul 30, 2015 at 12:53:18 PM EST
Tags: Taliban, Mullah Muhammed Omar (all tags)
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Taliban leader Mullah Muhammed Omar is dead. According to Afghanistan, he died two years ago in a Pakistani hospital.

As the supreme religious figure in Afghanistan, he commanded allegiance from all Taliban and foreign fighters, including Osama bin Laden, the founder of Al Qaeda.

He had not been seen in public since 2001 and it was long rumored he was dead.

Reports about the Taliban leader’s death have surfaced repeatedly over the past decade, fueled by his complete absence from public view since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. To this day, there is only one known photograph of him.

A successor will be chosen. Meanwhile, ISIS has been making some inroads in the region.

The growing belief that their leader is no longer alive has fed dissension in Taliban ranks and is cited as one of the reasons that the Islamic State extremist group has begun to make some inroads in Afghanistan. A commander in Helmand Province named Mirwais explained his defection to the Islamic State by saying: “We respect Mullah Omar. But if he is alive, why does he not appear and guide us?”

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    Death of Mullah Muhammed Omar Confirmed | 1 comment (1 topical)

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    Great (none / 0) (#1)
    by mike in dc on Thu Jul 30, 2015 at 04:42:54 PM EST
    So, if we kill Al-Zawahiri, too, can we pull all the troops out of Afghanistan?  

    Death of Mullah Muhammed Omar Confirmed | 1 comment (1 topical)

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