Father of US shooter supports Taliban

The father of Omar Mateen, the man who massacred 50 people at a US nightclub, was an Afghan with hardline political views and supported the Taliban militant group.

Mr. Seddique Mateen. Photo: Stuff

Seddique Mateen is the host of a show called "Durand Jirga Show" on channelPayam-e-Afghan, broadcast from California. According to the Washington Post, in this program, Mr.ngSeddique speaks Dari, a language of Afghanistan, anddiscuss various political issues.

He has a YouTube channelwithDozens of videos were posted. His Florida home phone number and mailbox address were displayed at the bottom of the screen for viewers to contact him.Seddique also owns a non-profit organization calledDurand Jirga.

In a video, he expressed gratitude to the Taliban in Afghanistan and condemned the Pakistani government.

"Those people"The brother fighters in the Taliban movement and the Afghan Taliban are rising," he said. "The Durand Line issue will be resolved soon."

The Durand Line is the border betweenAfghanistan and Pakistan, home to the Pashtun minority. Most Taliban members in Afghanistan are Pashtun, but it is unclear whether heSeddique is or is not.

Hours before the Orlando shooting, heSeddique posted a video on Facebook in which he presented himself as the president of Afghanistan and orderedmilitary, police and national intelligence agenciesarrested many politicians in this country.

GrandfatherSeddique had announced his candidacy for president of Afghanistan inmost recent video on his own YouTube channel, even though the presidential election took place a year ago.Seddique appears occasionally in the video and suddenly switches from one topic to another.

Suspect Omar Mateen. Photo:Stuff

Yesterday morning, he told NBCNews that Omar's son's shooting "had nothing to do with religion" and had other motives. He said he became angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a few months ago, especially when it happened in front of his young son.

"We apologize for the incident. We had no knowledge of our son's actions. We, like the whole country, are in shock," he said.

Omar was killed by police after a shooting at a gay nightclub in the early morning of June 12, killing at least 50 people and injuring 53.

He pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and mentioned the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber in his previous 911 call.

IS's news agency also claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying the attacker was a fighter of the group.

According to VNE