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Taliban admit covering up death of leader Mullah Omar for two years
Source: The Guardian
Taliban admit covering up death of leader Mullah Omar for two years
Admission, which comes in biography of new chief, reveals that Taliban wanted
to keep death quiet until foreign forces had ended military operations
Jon Boone in Islamabad
Monday 31 August 2015 16.50 BST
The Taliban concealed the “depressing news” of the death of its former leader Mullah Omar for more than two years because the movement was in the final stages of its fight against US-led forces, a detailed biography of the group’s new chief has revealed.
Until the news leaked last month, the death of the Taliban’s founder on 23 April 2013 was kept a secret “limited to the very few colleagues who were informed of this incorrigible loss”, according to the long statement published on the movement’s website on Monday.
The scheduled end of the Nato combat mission in 2014 meant the Taliban had no choice but to cover up the death of a leader whose legendary status and claim to be the “commander of the faithful” was critical to holding together Islamist fighters during the onslaught from foreign forces.
“One of the main reasons behind this decision was due to the fact that 2013 was considered the final year of power testing between the mujahideen and foreign invaders,” said the statement, which was published in several languages including English.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Admission, which comes in biography of new chief, reveals that Taliban wanted
to keep death quiet until foreign forces had ended military operations
Jon Boone in Islamabad
Monday 31 August 2015 16.50 BST
The Taliban concealed the “depressing news” of the death of its former leader Mullah Omar for more than two years because the movement was in the final stages of its fight against US-led forces, a detailed biography of the group’s new chief has revealed.
Until the news leaked last month, the death of the Taliban’s founder on 23 April 2013 was kept a secret “limited to the very few colleagues who were informed of this incorrigible loss”, according to the long statement published on the movement’s website on Monday.
The scheduled end of the Nato combat mission in 2014 meant the Taliban had no choice but to cover up the death of a leader whose legendary status and claim to be the “commander of the faithful” was critical to holding together Islamist fighters during the onslaught from foreign forces.
“One of the main reasons behind this decision was due to the fact that 2013 was considered the final year of power testing between the mujahideen and foreign invaders,” said the statement, which was published in several languages including English.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/31/taliban-admit-covering-death-leader-mullah-omar-two-years