Reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar has re-emerged to reassert direct control over the militant group, ordering attacks and shuffling field commanders in Afghanistan, as his group faces an offensive from the US troops and Pakistani military in Waziristan. A spate of suicide strikes against high-value targets like Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of President Hamid Karzai, and Qari Saeed Ahmed, a moderate cleric of Kandahar, had been masterminded and carried out on instructions from Mullah Omar, the Wall Street Journal reported quoting insurgent sources and US officials.

The paper said this represents a change in strategy by Taliban because till recently the group’s war against US-led coalition had been left to local commanders.

One-eyed Mullah Omar, who heads the Quetta Shura had so far after the ouster of his regime in Kabul in 2001 typically focused on choosing Taliban commanders and funneling money to them, religious guidance and strategy advice to fighters.