Mullah Mohammad Omar

Leadership challenged in Afghan Taliban after Mullah Omar

Mullah Abdul Manan, the brother of the late Mullah Mohammad Omar, told The Associated Press that new Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor was "selected" by a small clique of his own supporters. 

That comes after Mullah Omar's son, Yacoub, also warned Mansoor didn't have the support of the wider Taliban.

Afghan Taliban confirm Mullah Omar's death, choose successor

The Taliban Shura, or Supreme Council, chose Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who had served as Mullah Omar's deputy for the past three years, as its new leader, two Taliban figures told the Associated Press, saying the seven-member council had met in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

White House says Mullah Omar death reports are credible

Afghanistan's main intelligence agency announced Mullah Omar's death earlier Wednesday and said he'd been dead for more than two years.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz isn't commenting on the time frame, but he says the U.S. intelligence community is looking into the circumstances around Mullah Omar's death.

Afghan intelligence: Taliban leader Mullah Omar dead

Abdul Hassib Seddiqi, the spokesman for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, said Wednesday that Mullah Omar died in a hospital in the Pakistani city of Karachi in April 2013.

"We confirm officially that he is dead," he told The Associated Press.

The confirmation comes two days before the Afghan government and the Taliban are to hold their second round of official peace talks in Pakistan.