Reports Claim Mullah Omar Killed; Taliban Deny Reports

Less than a month after the US successfully carried out a raid to kill Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, there are multiple reports claiming that Mullah Omar, one of the top Taliban leaders whose regime sheltered bin Laden in Afghanistan may have been killed.

The Afghan Taliban forcefully denied reports Monday that their leader is dead, dismissing them as "claims and rumors" from the "Kabul stooge regime's intelligence directorate."

Mullah Mohammed Omar "is alive and well and is leading the Mujahideen in all aspects while living safely with reliance on Allah," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

His statement came after suggestions that Omar might have been killed recently.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, said Monday that Omar has disappeared in the past five days.

Lutfullah Mashal said he "hopes" Omar is dead but cannot confirm it.

"So far, we cannot confirm the death or killing of Mullah Omar officially. But we can confirm that he has been disappeared from his hideout in Quetta, Baluchistan" in Pakistan, he said.

"Our sources and senior Taliban members confirm that they can't contact him," Mashal said, adding that Omar had been living in Quetta for 10 years.

Taliban sources vociferously deny the reports.

It is interesting that the Pakistani sources claim that Omar was living in Quetta for the past decade. That's within spitting distance of the border with Afghanistan and the border provinces.