An Afghan official said Wednesday his government is examining claims that reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is dead. The Taliban could not be immediately reached on the government's comments about Omar, who has been declared dead many times before.
Omar, the one-eyed, secretive head of the Taliban and an al-Qaida ally, led a bloody insurgency against U.S.-led forces after they toppled him from his rule in Afghanistan in 2001.
Zafar Hashemi, a deputy spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, made the announcement at a hastily called news conference Wednesday in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
"We are aware of the reports of the passing away of Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader," Hashemi said.