Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar has died. Or he hasn't.
We've all heard the claim made before — it's not the first time Omar was reported dead. Media outlets in 2011 said Afghan officials confirmed the Taliban commander had been killed. Before that there were bouts of news reports on the extremist's death, making it a serious case of "the boy who cried wolf."
Top Afghan officials made the claim, but it's unusual for the Taliban to keep its major deaths secret; back in April the group published a biography on the commander, BBC reported, saying he was still acting as supreme leader.
If confirmed, Omar would be a major blow to the Taliban. He was instrumental in creating alliances between the group and al-Qaeda, according The Telegraph. He's been the "supreme leader" for nearly two decades and helped Osama bin Laden establish training camps across the country.
The confusion surrounding Omar's state of health has left social media users in a frenzy — "Mullah Omar" is currently trending on Twitter as people attempt to follow news on whether the man had really been killed. Others have tweeted about the militant's eery tendency to pop up out of the grave.
Here are some of the best tweets coming from the confusion:
Getting killed over and over must be really bad for Mullah Omar's health. pic.twitter.com/BCy4aEmYxb
— JRehling (@JRehling) July 29, 2015Until I see a body, I'm assuming Mullah Omar and Abe Vigoda are competing for the "Most times killed on Twitter" record.
— The Hun†ress (@RJOuttaSoCal) July 29, 2015Mullah Omar: "Maybe if we KEEP telling them I'm dead, they'll stop trying to drone the shit out of me"
— Rome-yo Montague (@JoshDamage) July 29, 2015Mullah Omar is a cat. https://t.co/H7OXCwGDm0
— John Forsyth (@blackbear93) July 29, 2015My Name's Omar Mullah Omar And I am not dead https://t.co/OMYdYtQaNB
— Mullah Omar (@MojoOmarr) July 29, 2015By Hayat Norimine
