PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 22 (UPI) -- Reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar is directing militant operations in Afghanistan as U.S. and coalition forces prepare for a surge, officials say.
Omar, who heads the Quetta, the Taliban central leadership, is taking the reins by directing the operations of the loose conglomerate of Taliban-backed groups fueling the insurgency in Afghanistan.
The financial director of the group has now retaken the lead, issuing direct orders to Afghan fighters in what may be a sign of the bloody battle awaiting U.S. and international forces looking to secure the country ahead of August elections.
The move to centralize the insurgency could create problems for the Afghan surge but could also create Taliban divisions, leaving moderates open to engagement, The Wall Street Journal reports.
U.S. President Barack Obama has drawn on Iraqi strategies to advocate courting moderate Taliban into his new military push into Afghanistan.
Islamabad, for its part, has not confirmed the Quetta leadership despite a new Pakistani military offensive into the volatile tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan.
The emergence of Omar, who facilitated ties between the Taliban and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, coincides with a spate of suicide operations in Afghanistan, with at least four rocking the country during the weekend.
"This is Quetta's answer to Obama's surge," a militant commander told the Journal.
