Kandahar: The car used by the founder of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, escaped being the target of US troops after the 9/11 attacks had been dug in East Afghanistan, where he was buried for more than two decades, officials said.
Toyota Corolla Putih was buried in a village park in Zabul Province by former Taliban official Abdul Jabbar Omari, who ordered him to be explored this week.
“Still in good condition, only the front is slightly damaged,” Rahmatullah Hammad, Director of Information and Culture of Zabul Province, told AFP.
“This vehicle was buried by the Mujahideen as a warning for Omar in 2001 to avoid it missing,” he said.
Media Taliban officials published photos of cars that were dug from their vehicle graves by people who use handsop.
The Taliban wants the car to be displayed at the National Museum of the Capital as a “Great History Monument”, Hammad added.
The Taliban was formed in Kandahar by Mullah Omar, who led the Islamic hardline movement to power in 1996 after a bloody civil war, and imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law in the country.
Afghanistan later became a shelter for jihadist groups, including Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, the architect of the September 11 attack.
When the Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden, the US and its allies launched an air strike in Afghanistan, before attacking, removing the Taliban from power and installing a new government.
Taliban officials said this week that Mullah Omar made his vacation from Kandahar in Toyota Corolla.
He died in hiding in 2013, although the officials kept his death a secret for several years.
After two decades tried to hold the bloody rebellion, Washington pulled his last troops last year when the Taliban swept throughout the country, seized Kabul and returned to power.