Mulla Omar son’s death denied

PESHAWAR: An unsubstantiated news item carried by sections of the Afghan media about the assassination of late Taliban supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar’s eldest son, Mulla Mohammad Yaqoob, was quickly denied by his family on Monday.
The news raised alarm as scores of media organisations carried it. It was believable for many due to the ongoing rift in the Afghan Taliban movement following the death of Mulla Omar due to the differences on due to the differences on the appointment of his successor. Pakistani TV channels also carried it. Eventually when the news item was denied, some of the TV channels stopped using it.
Later, it was learnt that an obscure news service in Afghanistan and sections of the Afghan media had released the news of Mulla Yaqoob’s death and claimed that he was killed four days ago.
Yaqoob’s family rubbished the news and termed it baseless. Reached through certain Taliban leaders, the family said Yaqoob was hale and hearty and had met a number of people at undisclosed locations.
Senior Afghan Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Hasan Rahmani told ‘The News’ that the news was false and provocative. “I was in touch with Yaqoob’s family today and yesterday. Nothing of the sort has happened. Yaqoob is fine,” he added. Other Afghan Taliban leaders Mulla Abdul Razzaq and Mulla Abdul Mannan Niazi also denied the news. Independent sources also found no evidence that Yaqoob had died.