Pakistan Rejects Reports on Death of Taliban Leader

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Pakistani security official on Monday dismissed earlier media reports on the death of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
According to FNA dispatches, while earlier media reports alleged that Mullah Omar had been killed during a crossfire in areas between Pakistan's Quetta and North Waziristan, the Pakistani security official totally rejected the breaking of any kind of clash in the area.

"How is it possible that Mullah Omar starts moving from Quetta to Waziristan and he is killed and no one finds out about his death except the Afghans," the Pakistani official questioned.

Earlier today, Afghan officials and media announced that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has been killed in Pakistan.

"Mullah Mohammad Omar has been killed and his body is under postmortem studies at the coroners' office," a senior Afghan official told FNA this morning on the condition of anonymity.

The source further pointed out that senior Taliban leaders had failed to establish a contact with Mullah Mohammad Omar since al-Qaeda Leader Osama bin Laden was allegedly killed in his compound near Islamabad almost two weeks ago.

Both top security officials in Pakistan and government officials in Afghanistan have voiced deep doubts on Mullah Omar's death report.

The Taliban in Afghanistan, too, dismissed the media reports as "propaganda".

"He is in Afghanistan safe and sound," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location. "We strongly reject these baseless allegations that Mullah Mohammad Omar has been killed."