Taliban leader Mullah Omar is alive, a spokesman for the militant group said, according to a Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency.

"Reports regarding the killing of Amir-ul-Moemineen (Omar) are false. He is safe and sound," Afghan Taliban spokesman Qari Muhamad Yousaf told AIP.

Afghanistan's privately owned TOLO television reported earlier Omar had been killed in Pakistan, while on the way from Quetta to North Waziristan.

However, it did not provide details on how he was killed and by whom. Meanwhile, a security official confirmed the killing, saying, " it is correct that Mullah Omar has been killed."

The official emphasized that Mullah Omar was killed inside Pakistan.

Taliban militants fighting Afghan and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan have yet to make comment.

Mullah Omar has survived massive US military manhunt since the collapse of Taliban regime by US-led invasion in late 2001 for sheltering al-Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden.

US commandos killed Bin Laden in a raid on his hideout in Pakistan on May 2.