Afghanistan examining claim Taliban leader died

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official said Wednesday his government is examining claims that reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is dead. The Taliban could not be immediately reached on the government's comments about Omar, who has been declared dead many times before.

Omar, the one-eyed, secretive head of the Taliban and an al-Qaida ally, led a bloody insurgency against U.S.-led forces after they toppled him from his rule in Afghanistan in 2001.