The first official face-to-face talks between the two sides were held earlier in July near Islamabad.
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In the past few weeks, two different militant groups once allied with the Taliban have issued statements declaring Omar is dead.
“They can accept the government of Afghanistan’s invitation to join a peace process… or they can choose to continue fighting Afghans and destabilizing their own country”, he said.
Mullah Omar’s death and the choice of his successor will also have an impact on the unity and cohesiveness of the Taliban.
The decision will affect the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
The Taliban Thursday also responded to media reports that talks with the Afghan government would take place soon, either in Pakistan or China.
Mansour was born and raised in the poppy-rich river valley of Band-e-Timor, the very same area of central Kandahar province where Omar first mobilised what was to become the Taliban and from which a disproportionate number of the Taliban’s leadership has traditionally hailed.
The Taliban leader has been in hiding since the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001.
Still, both the murky nature of his death and the apparent lack of an immediate successor could cause a setback in the peace process – a priority for Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani.
Even given his impenetrable reclusiveness, and the growing mystery around him in recent years, Omar proved a remarkable unifying figure for the Taliban’s far-flung factions for decades.
The NDS has previously said privately that its intelligence indicated Omar was dead, but it has not provided proof.
Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson global Center for Scholars, said Omar’s death would explain his silence when North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops withdrew and when Ghani’s government took power.
Here’s what’s weird: This is not the first time there have been stories that Mullah Omar died.
Earlier today, the BBC quoting Afghan government and intelligence sources claimed Taliban leader Mullah Omar had died two to three years ago.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the talks – scheduled to resume Friday – were postponed due to the “resulting uncertainty” by the news of Omar’s death.
Political analyst Ahmad Saeedi said the Taliban’s statement could signal a total rejection of the peace process by the movement.
Most recently, a statement purportedly by Mullah Omar was issued on the occasion of this month’s Eid-al-Fitr holiday, expressing support for the peace talks.
A security official in Pakistan, the country hosting the talks, told the Associated Press news agency that the claims of Mullah Omar’s death were mere “speculation”, designed to destabilise the negotiations.
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The Taliban in April published a descriptive biography of the “charismatic” supreme leader, in a surprise move apparently aimed at countering the creeping influence of the Islamic State group within their ranks.
