Kabul, June 18 (Reuters): The outgoing US ambassador to Afghanistan has suggested that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has been hiding in Pakistan and sharply criticised Islamabad’s failure to act against Taliban leaders.

Zalmay Khalilzad told Afghanistan’s Aina Television that a Pakistani TV channel had interviewed a senior Taliban commander, Mullah Akhtar Usmani, at a time when Pakistani officials claimed they did not know the whereabouts of Taliban leaders.

“If a TV station can get in touch with them, how can the intelligence service of a country, which has nuclear bombs and a lot of security and military forces, not find them,” Khalilzad said.

“Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders should have been in Pakistan,” Khalilzad said. “Usmani, who is one of the Taliban leaders, spoke to Pakistani Geo TV, at a time when Pakistani officials claimed that they did not know where they were.”