Rare picture of Taliban founder Mullah Omar surfaces

The picture, taken in 1978, was first posted on the Taliban’s official site (http://shahamat-english.com/omar-iii-from-the-slum-to-emirate ).

A clearer scanned copy obtained by AFP today shows a youthful, thickly-bearded Omar wearing a green turban and a waistcoat over his traditional Afghan tunic, as he stares directly into the camera.

A senior Taliban official who sent AFP the picture said it was originally a black-and-white image that was later <g data-gr-id="17">colourised</g>.

The life and death of Omar remain shrouded in mystery and the new image may be one of only two verified photographs.

“The picture was taken while Mullah Omar was a student at a madrassa in Kandahar,” the official said.

According to an official <g data-gr-id="16">biography</g> he was born around 1960 to a humble family in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.