The conflicting reports, however, underscore the complicated disputes and suspicions between Afghanistan and Pakistan as the United States intensifies pressure on both sides, urging Afghan forces to step up efforts against militants and pushing Pakistani authorities to help unravel the networks that aided Osama bin Laden.
Afghan officials say Omar has been sheltered in Quetta or Karachi, major cities in southeast and southern Pakistan. Pakistan says it has no credible evidence Omar is in the country.
The spokesman for the Afghan National Directorate for Security said Omar and some Taliban commanders had not been spotted since late last week while moving from Quetta to North Waziristan, a tribal area in Pakistan that is a staging ground for attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
The spokesman, Latifullah Mashal, suggested that “maybe an incident has happened along the way,’’ but emphasized that officials had no further information about Omar’s fate.
Mashal made the statement after the Tolo report, which cited an anonymous Afghan intelligence official as saying Omar had been shot dead in Pakistan en route to North Waziristan with the help of General Hamid Gul, the former chief of Pakistani intelligence.
