Is Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar dead?

Kabul, May 23 (ANI): Conflicting signals are emerging out of Afghanistan and Pakistan that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has been killed in Pakistan.

Though many private television channels in Afghanistan are reporting his death, the Xinhua news agency has quoted the Taliban as being in a state of denial about the killing.

"Mullah Omar was killed on way from Quetta to North Wazirustan, " Afghanistan's TOLO Television said in one of its news bulletin.

Several other local TV channels including Shamshad, Ariana and Noor are also reporting the same.

However, the local media did not say the details on how he was killed and by whom.

Meantime, a security official contacted by Xinhua confirmed the incident, saying "it is correct that Mullah has been killed."

"The report about the death of Mullah Omar is merely a propaganda to demoralize Mujahideen. Mullah Omar is alive. He is inside Afghanistan and is leading Mujahideen against foreign troops," Taliban spokesman Zabihulla Mujahid told media on Monday.

Mullah Mohammed Omar is regarded as the spiritual leader of the Taliban movement that operates in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title "Head of the Supreme Council".

Mullah Omar is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States since October 2001, for sheltering Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda militants in the years prior to the 11 September attacks. He was believed to be in Pakistan directing the Taliban insurgency against NATO forces and the Karzai administration in Afghanistan. (ANI)