[Breaking news update, 1:13 p.m. ET]
The second round of Afghan-Taliban peace talks, slated to begin Friday in Pakistan, have been delayed following the Afghan government’s announcement that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar died in April 2013.”In view of the reports regarding the death of (Mullah) Omar and the resulting uncertainty, and at the request of the Afghan Taliban leadership, the second round of the Afghan peace talks, which was scheduled to be held in Pakistan on 31 July 2015, is being postponed,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
[Previous story, published at 11:22 a.m. ET]
Former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is indeed dead, the Afghan Islamist militant group confirmed Thursday.
The acknowledgment, made in a statement released by Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, came a day after Afghanistan’s government announced that the reclusive Islamic cleric had died in April 2013.
The Taliban’s statement, in the Pashto language, called Omar “the late leader of the faithful.”
It did not confirm when or where he died, but did say that he died of an illness. It also claimed that Omar had not once left Afghanistan — even for neighboring Pakistan — since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001.
Haseeb Sediqi, spokesman for Afghanistan’s intelligence service, said Wednesday that Omar had died in a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, in April 2013.
Sediqi said that Afghanistan’s intelligence service — the National Directorate of Security — was aware of Omar’s death long ago and had conveyed that information to the country’s Parliament.
The Taliban statement added that three days of mourning would be observed for Omar.
The latest developments come just weeks after the Afghan government held its first face-to-face talks with Taliban representatives in an attempt to work toward a peace process.
In a news release announcing Omar’s death, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said the government was optimistic about the talks, “and thus calls on all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process.”
White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz could not confirm Omar’s death but said the administration believed the reports were credible. Schultz said the intelligence community was looking into the reports.
The elusive leader had not appeared in public since the Taliban regime’s overthrow in Afghanistan 14 years ago and made no video or authenticated audio statements in that time.
Under Omar’s leadership, the Taliban offered safe haven to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, precipitating the U.S. military action in Afghanistan after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
That led to a Taliban insurgency that continues to this day, even as U.S. and other NATO troops are drawing down their numbers in Afghanistan.
The U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan ended last year, leaving the Afghan military to lead the fight against the Taliban. The thousands of NATO troops that remain in Afghanistan are there in a training and support role.