Taliban leader Mullah Omar died two years ago in Pakistan, a spokesman for Afghanistan's security services says.
Abdul Hassib Seddiqi told the BBC's Afghan Service that Mullah Omar had died of health problems at a hospital in Pakistan.
Afghanistan's government says information on his death is "credible".
The
latest reports of Mullah Omar's death are being taken more seriously
than previous such reports. The Taliban is expected to issue a statement
soon.
Sources at the Taliban's two main councils in Quetta and
Peshawar in Pakistan told the BBC they were in intensive talks to agree
on a replacement for Mullah Omar.
A statement from the office of
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said that it believed, "based on
credible information", that Mullah Omar died in April 2013 in Pakistan.
The Afghan government, elected last year, has embarked on a peace process with the Taliban.
In its statement, the government called on "all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process".
A
security official in Pakistan, the country hosting the talks, told AP
that the claims of Mullah Omar's death were mere "speculation", designed
to destabilise the negotiations.
Pakistan's government and
security services have not formally commented on the claims so far. They
have always denied that Mullah Omar was in their country.
The White House says it believes reports of his death are credible. Who is Mullah Omar? Lyse Doucet: What is the future for the Taliban?
The Taliban militia won a series of victories under Mullah Omar's leadership
The Taliban leader is believed to have suffered a shrapnel wound to his right eye in the 1980s
Analysis - Dawood Azami, BBC World Service
Mullah Omar has not been seen in public since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
The
absence of confirmed contacts for several years fuelled speculation.
His ill-health and even death have regularly been rumoured in the past.
Over
the past two years, even some high-ranking Taliban started asking
questions, both privately and within the Taliban circles, about their
leader's health, life and ability to run the insurgency.
Despite
his long absence from the public view, the mystique of the man has been
overwhelming. He had become a symbol and a unifying figure within the
Taliban. While the day-to-day affairs have been managed by his deputies,
everything else revolved around his name.
Questions about his
life and whereabouts will only increase, putting pressure on the Taliban
to produce credible evidence - if he is alive.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a wanted notice for Mullah Omar
Mullah Omar led the Taliban to
victory over rival Afghan militias in the civil war that followed the
withdrawal of Soviet troops.
His alliance with al-Qaeda leader
Osama Bin Laden prompted the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, in
the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Mullah Omar has since been in hiding, with a $10m (£6.4m) US state department bounty on his head.
Over the years, the Taliban have released several messages purported to be from the fugitive leader.
The latest of these statements, from mid-July, expressed support for the peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
However,
the message was in the form of a text published on a Taliban website,
rather than an audio or video recording - fuelling rumours that the
leader was dead or incapacitated.
The failure to prove that Mullah
Omar was alive was a major factor behind the defection of several
senior Taliban commanders to the so-called Islamic State group,
according to the BBC's former Kabul correspondent, David Loyn.
Mullah Mohammed Omar
Taliban say he was born in 1960 in the village of Chah-i-Himmat, in Kandahar province
Fought in resistance against Soviet occupation in 1980s, suffering a shrapnel injury to his right eye
Forged close ties to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden
Became "supreme leader" of Taliban movement in 1996
US-led forces overthrew his government in 2001; US state department has a $10m bounty on him
Earlier this year the Taliban published a biography of him saying he does not own a home and has no foreign bank account, and saying he "has a special sense of humour"
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