Afghanistan: Mullah Muhammad Omar, Spiritual Leader of the Taliban (c.1959-2013), 1993

Mullah Mohammed Omar (born c. 1959), often simply called Mullah Omar, is the spiritual leader of the Taliban movement that operates in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title of Head of the Supreme Council. He held the title Commander of the Faithful of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which was officially recognized by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He lost an eye during the war against Soviet occupation.

There are at most one or two indistinct photographs of Mullah Omar, who follows a strict Salafist interpretation of the Islamic prohibition on making images of living things, including via photography. In a more mundane sense, this has served him well as a guerrilla commander by protecting his anonymity.

It was reported on 29 July 2015, that Mullah Omar had died in 2013. These reports were confirmed by the National Directorate of Security and the Taliban the following day.

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