Taliban Confirm Leader’s Death, Choose Mullah Omar Successor

High-ranking officials from the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Thursday the death of their leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar

Mullah Omar, chief of the Taliban, in this undated photo. Getty Images

KABUL, Afghanistan—High-ranking officials from the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Thursday the death of their leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and said the group’s top council has elected his successor, a senior figure who served as the reclusive mullah’s deputy for the past three years.

The Taliban Shura, or Supreme Council, chose Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as the new leader, two Taliban figures told The Associated Press. The two, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized by the council to talk to the media, said the seven-member Shura had met in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

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