KABUL: After keeping as a secret for nine long years, the Taliban has finally disclosed the location of the burial site of the outfit’s founder Mullah Omar.
The Taliban in 2015 had admitted that Mullah Omar had died in 2013.
Mullah Omar was buried near Omarzo in Suri district of Zabul province in Afghanistan.
The Taliban was ousted from power in Afghanistan in the year 2001 following a US-led invasion of the country after the 9/11 terrorist attack.
It was only last year that the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.
Pictures released by the Taliban shows that the leaders of the group paying tribute to Mullah Omar at his grave.
The ‘tomb’ of Mullah Omar, the founder of Taliban, is made up of brick work, covered with gravel and enclosed in a green metal cage.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that Mullah Omar’s burial place were kept secret for years fearing damage to the ‘tomb’.
“Since a lot of enemies were around and the country was occupied, to avoid damage to the tomb it was kept secret,” Mujahid said.
“Only the close family members were aware of the place,” he added.
“Now the decision has been made… there are no issues for the people to visit the tomb,” Mujahid said.
Omar, who was aged around 55 when he died, founded the Taliban in 1993 as an antidote to the internecine civil war that erupted following the decade-long Soviet occupation.
Under his leadership the Taliban introduced an extremely austere version of Islamic rule, barring women from public life and introducing harsh public punishments – including executions and floggings.
Omar’s ceremony comes a day after provincial Taliban officials denied reports that the Panjshir Valley tomb of resistance hero Ahmad Shah Massoud had been vandalised, an act Mujahid said would be ‘punished’ if true.