Afghanistan: 9 years after his death, the Taliban reveal the tomb of their founder

The Taliban unveiled on Sunday in Afghanistan the grave of their movement’s founder, Mullah Omar, whose death in 2013 and where he was buried remained a secret for years.

A fugitive since the fall of the first Taliban regime in late 2001 when a US-led military coalition overthrew it, Mullah Omar died in 2013 in hiding, with no details of the circumstances ever released. Fundamentalist Sunnis hid his death for years. He wasn’t officially announced until 2015.

Leaders of the movement attended a ceremony at his grave yesterday Sunday, in the town of Omarzo, in Zabul province (east), Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP.

The Taliban recaptured power in August 2021, routing crumbling government forces amid the chaotic withdrawal of the Washington-led military coalition after 20 years of rule.

“As many enemies were present and the country was under occupation, to avoid the grave being captured, its location was kept secret,” Zabiullah Mujahid explained. “Only members of the immediate family circle knew the location.”

Photos released by the Taliban regime show leaders standing, gathered around a simple white tomb protected by a light green iron cage.

“Now that the decision has been made (…) there is no problem if people want to visit the tomb,” according to the spokesman.

Mullah Omar, who has died aged about 55, founded the Taliban in 1993. The armed movement seized power in Afghanistan in 1996 after years of civil war and imposed its own ultra-strict version of sharia, Islamic law. .

RES-EMP

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