The Afghan Taliban's spokesmen said on Wednesday their mobile phones, email accounts and a website had been hacked to send out false messages to media claiming the movement's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had died "This is the work of American intelligence, and we will take revenge on the telephone network providers," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, when contacted by Reuters to confirm the veracity of one text message. The one-eyed, reclusive spiritual and political head of the insurgent movement is among the most wanted men in the world, with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, and this is not the first time he has been reported dead. The Taliban would be investigating the hacking and consider changing the way they put out news, using websites more than short text messages, said a second spokesman, Qari Yousuf. The original text messages came from phone numbers used by both Mujahid and Yousuf and said "spiritual Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid has died" and "May Allah bless his soul". Yousuf said the hacking was an attempt at psychological warfare by NATO-led forces. Pakistani author and Taliban expert Ahmed Rashid said there could be tactical incentives for Western forces fighting in Afghanistan to spread rumours of Mullah Omar's death. "It could be the Americans or the CIA behind it to sow unrest and division and confusion, which it clearly has done," he told Reuters. A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) declined to comment. Anand Gopal, an analyst and reporter who has written extensively on the Taliban said even if Omar had died it was unlikely their spokesmen would confirm his death so quickly. "Since so few people have access to Omar (maybe four or five, according to some estimates), there seems to be little incentive for the Taliban to publicise the death of their leader unless it was absolutely necessary," he said. "It is also unusual that they would mention someone to succeed Omar in the statement. Normally these things would take time, and there would certainly be splits in the leadership over the succession." The Taliban were slow to offer a response to the killing of former al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in May, at first questioning whether he was actually dead. The message posted on a Taliban website had also appeared immediately suspect because it contained mistakes, including Omar's birth date and the place of his birth, Gopal said. "It's the sort of mistake a non-Afghan could make, but an Afghan, especially a southern Afghan, would never make." The once-media shy Taliban, who banned television and music when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, have created a sophisticated media arm in recent years with websites, mobile phone ring tones and social media accounts. The Taliban regularly update their websites and send emails to media outlets in several languages publicising their attacks, opinions or exploits. Several messages from Omar have also been posted on these websites in recent years. The Taliban regularly change the addresses of their websites, and links to their websites are often corrupt or link to other websites such as dating or online shopping sites. In May, the death of Mullah Omar was reported by media, including Afghanistan's private TV station TOLO. But it was later dismissed by officials in Pakistan, diplomats, U.S. military commanders and government officials in Afghanistan Mullah Omar fled with the rest of the Afghan Taliban leadership to Quetta after their government was toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001. They formed the "Quetta shura", or leadership council. The Taliban were overthrown for refusing to hand over al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Omar has not been seen in public for years and little is known about his condition. Mullah Omar is believed to be living in Pakistan, probably in the city of Quetta. Pakistan and the Taliban movement both deny this and say he is in Afghanistan.
