The car used by Taliban founder Mullah Omar to escape being targeted by US forces after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has been excavated in eastern Afghanistan, where it lay buried for more than two decades, officials said.
The white Toyota Corolla was buried in a village garden in Zabul Province by former Taliban official Abdul Jabbar Omari, who ordered it to be dug up this week.
“It is still in good condition, only its front is a bit damaged,” said Rahmatullah Hammad, Zabul’s director of information and culture.
“This vehicle was buried by the mujahidin as a memorial to Omar in 2001 to avoid it being lost,” he said.
Taliban media officials published pictures of the car being dug from its vehicular grave by men using hand shovels.
The Taliban want the car to be displayed in the capital’s national museum as a “great historical monument,” Hammad added.
The Taliban were formed in Kandahar by Omar, who led the Islamist movement to power in 1996 after a bloody civil war, and imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law on the country. Afghanistan then became a sanctuary for jihadist groups, including Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, the architects of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
When the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden, the US and its allies launched airstrikes on Afghanistan, before invading, removing the Taliban from power and installing a new government.
Taliban officials said this week that Omar made his getaway from Kandahar in the Toyota Corolla.
He died in hiding in 2013, although officials kept his death secret for several years.
After two decades of attempting to hold back a bloody insurgency, Washington withdrew the last of its troops last year, as the Taliban swept across the country, seized Kabul and returned to power.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS