The Afghan Taliban has published a bizarre biography of their 'charismatic' supreme leader Mullah Omar - praising the one-eyed terrorist's 'special' sense of humour and love of grenade launchers.

In a clear attempt to counter the growing influence of ISIS in the central Asian country, the Taliban propaganda release lavished praise on the extremist in celebration of his 19th year as leader.

The Taliban have reportedly seen defections to ISIS recently, with some insurgents expressing their disaffection with the one-eyed warrior-cleric who has not been seen since the 2001 US-led invasion.

The biography, posted just after midnight on the Taliban's main website, described Mullah Omar as being actively involved in 'jihadi activities', dispelling speculation that he died long ago.

'Special sense of humour': In a clear attempt to counter the growing influence of ISIS in Afghanistan, the Taliban propaganda release lavished praise on the one-eyed extremist (pictured left and right)

Weapon of choice: The Taliban's bizarre biography of their 'charismatic' supreme leader Mullah Omar praises the one-eyed terrorist's 'special' sense of humour and love of grenade launchers (pictured)

Despite being 'regularly tracked by the enemy, no major change and disruption has been observed in the routine works of [Mullah Omar] in... organising the jihadi activities as the leader of the Islamic Emirate,' it said.

'He keenly follows and inspects the... activities against the brutal infidel foreign invaders.'

Lionising the militant's 'charismatic personality', the biography also contained several anecdotes of battlefield valour and described the RPG-7 grenade launcher as his 'preferred weapon of choice'.

The enigmatic, remote figure has not made a public appearance since the 2001 invasion, and has hardly ever been photographed.

The US State Department - which has a $10 million bounty on his head - only describes him as a tall male with a shrapnel wound to the right eye.

Enemies: The Taliban (pictured) have reportedly seen defections to ISIS recently, with some insurgents expressing their disaffection with Mullah Omar who has not been seen since the 2001 US-led invasion

Jihadi rivalry: The Taliban clearly fears the growing influence within its ranks of the Islamic State - the terrorist organisation led by Iraqi extremist and self-appointed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pictured)

The Taliban's surprise move to release his richly-detailed biography, even describing his personal and family life, took security analysts by surprise.

'The Taliban have posted Omar's biography for several strategic reasons - the most important of which is to counter Daesh influence in their ranks,' said Ahmad Sayedi, an expert on the Taliban, alluding to the Arabic abbreviation for the Islamic State terror group.

'This announcement is also meant to show that Omar is alive and well and still in control as the supreme leader of the Taliban.'

In the past 13 years, Omar has stayed completely out of the public eye amid growing power struggles within the Taliban and fears of ISIS' influence in their ranks as an ideological rival.

The Afghan government has also raised the ominous prospect of ISIS making inroads into the country, though the group that has taken over swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria has never formally acknowledged having a presence in Afghanistan.

In February a US-led NATO drone strike killed a former Taliban commander and a Guantanamo detainee suspected of links to ISIS in the volatile southern province of Helmand.

Former fighters: Three former Taliban members carry their weapons during a handover as they join a government peace and reconciliation process at a ceremony in Herat

A US Department of Defense image obtained from November 2001 shows a leaflet the US were then dropping in Afghanistan showing pictures of Taliban leader Mullah Omar with the warning 'We are watching!'

Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim, who led around 300 men, had reportedly defected from the Taliban to join ISIS.

The whereabouts of Omar remain a mystery but he is believed to be leading the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan from a hiding place somewhere in Pakistan.

The news comes as Afghanistan's senior Shiite community leader said ISIS was responsible for kidnapping dozens of Shiite men and boys in February.

Mohammad Mohaqiq said two former Taliban leaders, who switched allegiance to ISIS, were responsible for the abduction of 31 members of the minority Shiite Hazara community on February 24 in southern Zabul province.