Taliban claim bin Laden is 'lost'

US officials are treating with scepticism the Taliban’s claim Osama bin Laden has left Afghanistan.

The Taliban statement came from its envoy to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef who says bin Laden has left the country with his children and his wives and gone to Pakistan.

The Taliban also claim they do not know where he is.

Since the start of the war on terror, the Taliban have repeatedly issued contradictory statements about bin Laden's exact location and their contact with him.

Pentagon spokesman, Glenn Flood said the US military had no evidence that bin Laden had left Afghanistan.

He said the Taliban could be trying to misdirect the hunt for bin Laden to protect him.