Rare picture of Mullah Omar surfaces
Islamabad, October 12
The Afghan Taliban have released a striking new picture of late founder Mullah Omar from his days as a religious student, the only known image of the reclusive leader before he lost his right eye in battle.
The picture, taken in 1978, was first posted on the Taliban’s official site. A clearer scanned copy obtained by AFP today shows a youthful, thickly-bearded Omar wearing a green turban and a waistcoat over his traditional Afghan tunic, as he stares directly into the camera.
A senior Taliban official who sent AFP the picture said it was originally a black-and-white image that was later colourised.
The life and death of Omar remain shrouded in mystery and the new image may be one of only two verified photographs. “The picture was taken while Mullah Omar was a student at a madrassa in Kandahar,” the official said. — AFP
