SPIN BOLDAK, Dec 21: Mullah Mohammad Omar, the reclusive head of the Taliban, is safe and is at an unknown location in Afghanistan, a former Taliban minister said on Friday.

Mullah Abdul Shakour, ex-minister of communications and reconstruction, said all the Taliban leaders were safe, and threatened retaliation against any country that extradited any member of the Taliban leadership to the United States.

He said he had no idea where Osama bin Laden was now.

“We are not aware of the whereabouts of Osama,” Shakour said. “We don’t know whether he is in Afghanistan or not. But Mullah Omar is in a safe place (in Afghanistan).”

“We are not worried about the safety of our leader,” he added. “All our senior leaders are safe.”

In Kandahar, tribal Pakhtoon forces said earlier this week they were preparing to attack a mountain redoubt where Mullah Omar was believed to be hiding with 500 men.

Kandahar Director of Intelligence Haji Gullalai said Mullah Omar had retreated to mountains and caves around the village of Baghran, Helmand Province.—Reuters