Global InformationMullah Omar information
Muhammad Omar | |
|---|---|
محمد عمر | |
 Omar in 1993 | |
| Supreme Leader of Afghanistan | |
| In office 27 September 1996 – 13 November 2001 Disputed by Burhanuddin Rabbani (as President) | |
| Prime Minister | Mohammad Rabbani |
| Deputy | Mohammad Rabbani[1] |
| Preceded by | Burhanuddin Rabbani (as President) |
| Succeeded by | Burhanuddin Rabbani (as President) |
| In exile 13 November 2001 – 23 April 2013 | |
| Deputy |
|
| Succeeded by | Akhtar Mansour |
| In exile 4 April[5] – 27 September 1996 | |
| Deputy | Mohammad Rabbani |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1960[6] Near Kandahar,[6] or Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan[7] |
| Died | 23 April 2013 (aged 52–53) Karachi, Pakistan[8] (disputed) |
| Cause of death | Tuberculosis[10][11][12] |
| Resting place | Shinkay District, Zabul Province, Afghanistan[9] |
| Height | 198 cm (6 ft 6 in) |
| Spouse | At least 3 wives |
| Children | At least 5 (including Mullah Yaqoob) |
| Relatives | Abdul Manan Omari (stepbrother) |
| Ethnicity | Pashtun |
| Tribe | Ghilji (Khilji) |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Mujahideen (1979–1991) Hezb-i Islami Khalis (1979–1991) Taliban (1994–2013) |
| Years of service | 1979–1991 1994–2013 |
| Battles/wars |
|
Muhammad Omar (Pashto: محمد عمر, romanized: Muḥammad ʿUmar; 1960 – 23 April 2013) was an Afghan militant leader and founder of the Taliban. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the Taliban fought the Northern Alliance and took control of most of the country, establishing the First Islamic Emirate for which Omar began to serve as Supreme Leader in 1996. Shortly after al-Qaeda carried out the September 11 attacks, the Taliban government was toppled by an American invasion of Afghanistan, prompting Omar to go into hiding. He successfully evaded capture by the American-led coalition before dying in 2013 from tuberculosis.
Born into a religious family in Kandahar, Omar was educated at local madrasas in Afghanistan. After Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979, he joined the Afghan mujahideen to fight in the Soviet–Afghan War and he was Trained by Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar aka Imam Tarar. He served as an important military general during several skirmishes, losing his right eye in an explosion. The Soviets eventually withdrew from the country in 1989 and Afghanistan's Soviet-backed Democratic Republic was toppled in 1992, triggering the Afghan Civil War of 1992–1996. While initially remaining quiet and focused on continuing his studies, Omar became increasingly discontent with what he perceived as fasād in the country, including the practice of bacha bazi, ultimately prompting him to return to fighting in the Civil War. In 1994, Omar, along with religious students in Kandahar, formed the Taliban, which emerged victorious against other Afghan factions by 1996. Omar led the Taliban to form a Sunni Islamic theocracy headed by the Supreme Council, known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which strictly enforced sharia. While ruling between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban were widely condemned for committing massacres against civilians; discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities; banning women from school and most employment; and the destruction of cultural monuments, including the Buddhas of Bamiyan, which Omar personally ordered.[15]
After al-Qaeda, which had been given sanctuary in Afghanistan by the Taliban, carried out the September 11 attacks against the United States in 2001, American president George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban extradite al-Qaeda's leader Osama bin Laden to the United States. When the Taliban refused, the United States began the Global War on Terrorism and led a multinational invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, greatly bolstered by the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. By December 2001, the Taliban government had been ousted by the American-led coalition; Omar fled Kandahar, went into hiding in Zabul Province, and delegated operational control of the Taliban to his deputies. Under his command, the Taliban launched an insurgency against the new Afghan government and the coalition. Although Omar was the subject of a decade-long international manhunt, he remained in hiding for the rest of his life. He died in 2013, reportedly due to tuberculosis, which was not revealed publicly until 2015. In 2021, the Taliban deposed the Afghan government and regained power following the Fall of Kabul.
Omar remains a largely popular figure amongst the Taliban, who view him as a key freedom fighter who defended Afghanistan's Islamic principles — first against the Soviet empire and later against the Western world. Others have criticized him for his repressive government and his religious dogmatism.
- ^ Elias, Barbara. "The Taliban Biography – Documents on the Structure and Leadership of the Taliban 1996-2002" (PDF). National Security Archive. George Washington University. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ Bezhan, Frud (27 August 2020). "The Rise Of Mullah Yaqoob, The Taliban's New Military Chief". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ^ "'Taleban leader held' in Pakistan". BBC. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Mullah Omar: Taliban choose deputy Mansour as successor". BBC. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ Weiner, Tim (7 December 2001). "Man in the News; Seizing the Prophet's Mantle: Muhammad Omar". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Mohammad Omar: emir of Afghanistan". www.britannica.com. 18 May 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
tel1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "How the Death of Mullah Omar Could Disrupt Progress in Afghanistan". TIME. 29 July 2015.
- ^ "Taliban Leadership Visits Mullah Omar's Grave". CROX NEWS. 31 August 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NYT_Julywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
time-2015was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
auto2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Abdul Salam Zaeef (2010). My Life with the Taliban.
- ^ Arnaud de Borchgrave, "Osama bin Laden – Null and Void", UPI, 14 June 2001, quoted in Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p. 226
- ^ Anderson, Jon Lee (28 February 2022). "The Taliban Confront the Realities of Power". The New Yorker. Retrieved 19 June 2023.