Daily Times

Reports have been doing the rounds that the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar has been killed in Pakistan. The report was first aired by Afghan television and has been followed up with contradictory claims and counter-claims. One of the claims is he was being transported from Quetta to North Waziristan and was secretly killed by the ISI on the way. The Afghan Taliban have denied this and asserted that Mullah Omar is in Afghanistan and leading the Taliban. According to them, this propaganda has been spread to “weaken the Taliban”. The Afghan sources later changed their stance and said that the Taliban leader had been out of touch for the last few days.

One can only conjecture why Afghan television aired such a controversial and non-conclusive report at a time when a lot of questions are being asked about Pakistan’s involvement in sheltering high value militants. One explanation could be that the Afghans are trying to take advantage of Pakistan’s difficulties in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s killing, and disrupt the ISI and Afghan Taliban’s alliance by spreading such rumours. The other could be that, given intense pressure from the US to take out all high profile figures, Mullah Omar has been ‘disappeared’ on purpose by his hosts. We cannot say with certainty what is the truth behind this story, but one thing is clear. The US has run out of patience vis-à-vis Pakistan’s dual policy towards the extremists and would not think twice before attacking its most wanted enemies wherever it found them. Pakistan’s concerns and sensitivities about the violation of its territory and sovereignty are of no consequence for the US. On the other hand, the ISI and the military establishment have neither given up the Afghan Taliban nor are they likely to harm Mullah Omar. It defies logic that Pakistan’s security establishment would sabotage the plan on which they have invested heavily throughout the years of the American invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. Just when the endgame is approaching, why would Pakistan’s military eliminate its vital link with the Taliban by killing Mullah Omar? Any deal in Afghanistan realised after negotiations among various parties needs to have the blessing of a central Taliban figure and none other than Mullah Omar can serve that purpose. *