Mullah Omar
Muhammad Omar | |
|---|---|
محمد عمر | |
 Mullah 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 |
| Preceded by | Burhanuddin Rabbani (as President) |
| Succeeded by | Burhanuddin Rabbani (as President) |
| In exile 13 November 2001 – 23 April 2013 | |
| Deputy | |
| Succeeded by | Akhtar Mansur |
| In exile 4 April 1996 – 27 September 1996 | |
| Deputy | Mohammad Rabbani |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1950 to 1962 |
| Died | 23 April 2013 (aged 51 to 63) |
| Cause of death | Tuberculosis |
| Resting place | Zabul Province, Afghanistan |
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) |
| Spouse | At least 3 wives |
| Children | At least 5 (including Mullah Yaqoob) |
| Relatives | Abdul Manan Omari (stepbrother) |
Ethnicity | Pashtun |
Tribe | Hotak |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Hanafi | |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
|
Years of service | 1979–1992 1994–2013 |
| Battles/wars | |
Muhammad Umar Mujahid (c. 1950 to 1962 – 23 April 2013), commonly known as Mullah Omar or Muhammad Omar, was an Afghan militant and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. He founded the Taliban, an Islamist militant organization, in 1994 and served as its first supreme leader until his death in 2013. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the Taliban fought the Northern Alliance and took control of most of the country, establishing its first Islamic Emirate. Shortly after the militant group al-Qaeda carried out the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Taliban government was toppled by an American invasion of Afghanistan, prompting Omar to go into hiding. While evading capture by the American-led coalition, he died from tuberculosis in 2013.
Born into a religious family in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Omar was educated at local madrasas. After Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979, he joined the mujahideen to fight in the Soviet–Afghan War and was trained by Amir Sultan Tarar. Omar served as an important rebel commander 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 Second Afghan Civil War. While initially remaining quiet and focused on continuing his studies, Omar became increasingly discontent with what he perceived as fasād in the country, 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 the Sharia. While ruling between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban were widely condemned for committing massacres against civilians, discriminating against religious and ethnic minorities, banning women from school and most employment, and destroying cultural monuments, including the Buddhas of Bamiyan, which Omar personally ordered by a decree.
After al-Qaeda, which had previously 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 General Emir, Osama bin Laden, to the United States. The Taliban, under the leadership of Mullah Omar, refused to extradite him to the U.S. without concrete evidence linking him to the attacks, and they requested proof of his involvement in 9/11. The United States, however, had enough proof of him being in Afghanistan and under the Taliban's protection, and subsequently began the Global War on Terrorism and led a multinational invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, which was 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 criticised him for his method of governance and his religious dogmatism.