Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani or Usmani (died 19 December 2006)[1] was a senior leader of the Taliban, treasurer for the organization,[2] and close associate of Osama bin Laden and Mohammed Omar. He was involved in the demolition of the Buddhas of Bamyan[3] and was considered a potential successor to Mullah Omar.[4] Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, once referred to him as one of the four most dangerous Taliban members still in Afghanistan.[5]

Shortly after the 11 September attacks, CIA officer Robert Grenier met him to offer the Taliban the opportunity to give up Osama bin Laden.[4]

In December 2006, as he was riding in a four-wheel drive vehicle in Helmand Province, Osmani was killed by a smart bomb in a United States Air Force airstrike.[3] He had been tracked down by a Royal Air Force airplane which monitored his satellite phone.[2] Spokesmen of the Taliban initially denied his death[6] and claimed that the bomb had instead killed a Taliban leader called Abdul Zahir.[7] However, several days later other top Taliban officials confirmed his death.[8]

Mental health

While Taliban provincial governor in Mazar-e-Sharif, he began seeing Afghan psychiatrist Nader Alemi, the only psychiatrist in northern Afghanistan to speak Pashto, the language of most Taliban. Akhtar only kept a few appointments as he would go off on missions every three months. "I used to treat the Taliban as human beings, same as I would treat my other patients… " said Alemi. "."[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Bin Laden's "close associate" killed in southern Afghanistan". Yahoo! News. 23 December 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2006. [dead link]
  2. ^ a b Smith, Michael (24 December 2006). "Taliban leader 'killed' after RAF tracks phone". London: The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 27 December 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2006.
  3. ^ a b "Bin Laden associate killed, U.S. says". Yahoo! News. 23 December 2006. Archived from the original on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2006.
  4. ^ a b Grey, Stephen. Key Taliban Leaders in Afghanistan Eliminated, ABC News, 24 July 2008.
  5. ^ "Afghanistan: The Broadening Border War". StrategyWorld.com. 28 April 2006. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2006.
  6. ^ "U.S.: Top bin Laden associate killed". CNN.com. 23 December 2006. Archived from the original on 25 December 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2006.
  7. ^ "Forensic analysis confirms identity of slain Taliban leader". Daily Times (Pakistan). 25 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
  8. ^ "Taliban official admits U.S. strike killed military chief". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 December 2006. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2006.
  9. ^ Tahir Qadiry (26 November 2014). "The Taliban's psychiatrist". BBC News. Mazar-e-Sharif. Retrieved 28 November 2014.


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