KABUL: The Taliban today denied their supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had died, saying false messages claiming his death had been sent to media after their mobile phones, email accounts and a website had been hacked into.
Mullah Omar, the Afghan Taliban’s one-eyed, reclusive leader is among the most wanted men in the world, with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, and this is not the first time he has been reported dead.
”This is the work of American intelligence, and we will take revenge on the telephone network providers,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, when contacted by Reuters to confirm the veracity of one text message.
The Taliban would be investigating the hacking and consider changing the way they put out news, using websites more than short text messages, said a second spokesman, Qari Yousuf.
The original text messages came from phone numbers used by both Mujahid and Yousuf and said ”spiritual Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid has died” and ”May Allah bless his soul”.
Yousuf said the hacking was an attempt at psychological warfare by NATO-led forces.
Pakistani author and Taliban expert Ahmed Rashid said there could be tactical incentives for Western forces fighting in Afghanistan to spread rumours of Mullah Omar’s death. ”It could be the Americans or the CIA behind it to sow unrest and division and confusion, which it clearly has done,” he told Reuters. (PTI)