The Afghan Taliban has published a bizarre biography of their 'charismatic' leader Mullah Omar - praising the one-eyed terrorist's 'special' sense of humour and love of grenade launchers.
Taliban interesting efforts to keeps fighters from joining ISIS
In a clear attempt to counter the growing influence of ISIS in the central Asian country, the Taliban propaganda release lavished praise on the extremist in celebration of his 19th year as leader.
The Taliban have reportedly seen defections to ISIS recently, with some insurgents expressing their disaffection with the one-eyed warrior-cleric who has not been seen since the 2001 US-led invasion.
The biography, posted just after midnight on the Taliban's main website, described Mullah Omar as being actively involved in 'jihadi activities', dispelling speculation that he died long ago.
The enigmatic, remote figure has not made a public appearance since the 2001 invasion, and has hardly ever been photographed.
The US State Department - which has a $10 million bounty on his head - only describes him as a tall male with a shrapnel wound to the right eye.
"The whereabouts of Omar remain a mystery but he is believed to be leading the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan from a hiding place somewhere in Pakistan."
The Taliban's surprise move to release his richly-detailed biography, even describing his personal and family life, took security analysts by surprise.
In the past 13 years, Omar has stayed completely out of the public eye amid growing power struggles within the Taliban and fears of ISIS' influence in their ranks as an ideological rival.
In February a US-led NATO drone strike killed a former Taliban commander and a Guantanamo detainee suspected of links to ISIS in the volatile southern province of Helmand.
Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim, who led around 300 men, had reportedly defected from the Taliban to join ISIS.
The whereabouts of Omar remain a mystery but he is believed to be leading the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan from a hiding place somewhere in Pakistan.
The news comes as Afghanistan's senior Shiite community leader said ISIS was responsible for kidnapping dozens of Shiite men and boys in February.
Mohammad Mohaqiq said two former Taliban leaders, who switched allegiance to ISIS, were responsible for the abduction of 31 members of the minority Shiite Hazara community on February 24 in southern Zabul province.
It is the first time an Afghan leader has confirmed ISIS involvement in the kidnappings.
US Department of Defense image obtained from November 2001 shows a leaflet the US were then dropping in Afghanistan showing pictures of Taliban leader Mullah Omar with the warning 'We are watching!'