Taliban rejects report of leader's hospitalization

KABUL, Afghanistan – A Taliban spokesman rejected a report Thursday that the group's little-seen one-eyed leader was treated for a heart attack in a Pakistani hospital with the help of that country's spy agency.

The report from a private intelligence-gathering company was unfounded, Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.

"It is more propaganda, part of the rumor-war launched by the enemy," Mujahid said.

Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has no heart issues, he added.

The Pakistani army, which controls the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, also denied the report Thursday.

The Eclipse Group, a private intelligence network, circulated the report, saying it came from a doctor at the hospital who had seen Omar, though he had not been part of the operating team.