{"id":67643,"date":"2019-03-11T13:38:55","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T13:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/11\/the-talibans-leader-lived-in-walking-distance-of-this-us-forward-operating-base\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:18:16","slug":"the-talibans-leader-lived-in-walking-distance-of-this-us-forward-operating-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/03\/11\/the-talibans-leader-lived-in-walking-distance-of-this-us-forward-operating-base\/","title":{"rendered":"The Taliban\u2019s leader lived in walking distance of this US forward operating base, new book alleges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mullah Mohammad Omar<\/a>, the one-eyed Taliban leader<\/a> who served as the group\u2019s figurehead prior to the U.S. entrance into Afghanistan<\/a> until his death in 2013, reportedly lived no more than three miles from a major coalition military base that intermittently housed U.S. and British special operations forces, as well as conventional coalition troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omar apparently lived for more than a decade in a shack near a well-patrolled route, where he would often hear coalition troops being ambush by insurgents, warplanes flying overhead and U.S. forces on patrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claim comes from a new book entitled \u201cSearching for An Enemy<\/a>\u201d by Dutch journalist Bette Dam. The book\u2019s primary findings are available online in English through a partnership with the Zomia Center \u2014 an initiative of Arizona State University\u2019s Center on the Future of War and New America, a D.C. think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani\u2019s deputy chief of staff, Haroon Chakhansuri, said the president\u2019s offices \u201cstrongly reject\u201d Dam\u2019s book, calling it a \u201cdelusional claim\u201d that Omar lived and died in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe see it as an effort to create and build an identify for the Taliban and their foreign backers,\u201d Chakhansuri said over Twitter. \u201cWe have sufficient evidence which shows he lived and died in Pakistan. Period!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the book, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reiterated the militant group\u2019s long-held position that Omar lived and died in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban hid the fact that Omar had died for two years, before being discovered by Afghan intelligence in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dam defended her work over social media<\/a> Monday, saying that she doesn\u2019t \u201cthink [her] work is pro-Taliban, or anti U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an attempt to crosscheck narratives,\u201d Dam said. \u201cIf we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omar, who had a $10 million bounty placed on his head by the U.S. government, lived out his life in Zabul province, within walking distance of Forward Operating Base Wolverine, Dam alleges. The U.S. intelligence community had long thought that Omar had escaped over the mountains to Pakistan and remained in hiding there until his death like al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new research also runs counter to the Taliban\u2019s own narrative, which maintained that Omar remained in control of the insurgency for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In this image released by the FBI, Mullah Omar is seen in a wanted poster. The reclusive Afghan Taliban leader has backed peace talks with the Kabul government, saying in a rare message distributed to media Wednesday, July 15, 2015 that the goal of these efforts is an “end to occupation” by foreign forces. (FBI via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Omar refused to go to Pakistan due to a \u201cdeep-seated mistrust of that country,\u201d Dam wrote. And while he lost operational control over the insurgency, he remained the focal point of Taliban propaganda for religious and cultural reasons familiar to southern Afghans, including a perception of other-worldliness and selflessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dam wrote that this was in contrast to bin Laden, who was known for fiery edicts and a more vocal charisma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn this sense, the story of Mullah Omar shows us just how different the Taliban and al Qaeda really are,” Dam wrote. “Today, as the prospect of peace hinges, in part, on trusting whether the Taliban can indeed split with al Qaeda, understanding Mullah Omar\u2019s story is more crucial than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dam lived in Kabul from 2009 to 2014 and said that she interviewed dozens of Taliban leaders. She also said she interviewed Afghan and U.S. officials before getting an interview with the man who guarded Omar for 12 years in December. That guard is currently in the custody of Afghanistan\u2019s national intelligence agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\t