Afghanistan government says Taliban leader is dead

The Afghan Taliban have appointed a new leader after the death of Mullah Omar.

Akhtar Mohammad Mansour will succeed one-eyed Omar, who had not been seen since 2001.

News of Omar's death was confirmed yesterday but it is thought he died more than two years ago.

Omar went into hiding after his government was forced from power by the US-led Coalition following the 9/11 attacks in the USA.

The White House has said it believes reports of Taliban leader Mullah Omar's death are 'credible'.

Earlier this evening the presidential palace in Kabul issued a statement stating that 'based on credible information' it was able to confirm Omar's death.

The Afghanistan Government is convinced that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar died two years ago and has called on all opposition parties to embrace new peace talks.

A statement from the presidential palace in kabul said: "The government ... based on credible information, confirms that Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban died in April 2013 in Pakistan."

"The government of Afghanistan believes that grounds for the Afghan peace talks are more paved now than before, and thus calls on all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process."

The Taliban's leader Mullah Mohammad Omar died two years ago in a Pakistani hospital, Afghanistan's intelligence agency has claimed.

The statement by National Directorate of Security spokesman Hasib Sediqi came after the Afghan government said it was investigating reports of Omar's death, just days ahead of an expected second round of peace talks with the Taliban.

The NDS has previously said privately that its intelligence indicated Omar was dead, but it has not provided proof.

A former Taliban minister has told ITV News that Mullah Mohammad Omar is dead.

He said Omar died more than two years ago from a disease which was possibly tuberculosis and is buried in Afghanistan, close to the border with Pakistan.

Reports that Mullah Mohammad Omar have been met with scepticism in the Pakistan military ahead of with peace talks with the Afghan government.

A senior official from the Pakistani military, which historically has close ties to the Afghan Taliban and other Islamist militant groups in the region, said he could not confirm Omar's death.

"It is worth asking why this news has come out now, when we are two days away from the second round of peace talks," said the official.

"Especially in light of reports that he died two years ago... why is this news being released now? It raises questions about the intentions of people who don't want talks to go forward."

The Afghanistan government has said it is investigating reports that the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar is dead.

In a press conference in Kabul, a Government spokesman said: "We are still in the process of assessing those reports."

The announcement followed reports in Afghan local media that Omar, who has not been since 2001, was dead but have died as long as two years ago. Some of the reports also indicated Mullah Omar's son was in a position to take over the Islamist insurgency that is fighting against Afghanistan's foreign-backed government.

Omar went into hiding 14 years ago after his government was forced from power by the US-led Coalition following the 911 attacks in the USA.

The Taliban has yet to comment on the claims.