The Afghan Taliban have confirmed the death of leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor after the US military announced he was the target of a drone strike in Pakistan.
Mullah Abdul Rauf, a senior commander of the militant group, said on Sunday that Mansoor died in the strike on Friday night. Rauf said the strike took place “in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area”.
The office of the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, confirmed the strike but did not confirm Mansoor’s death, though the country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, said Mansoor was “more than likely” dead.
An Afghan security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Guardian: “It’s a confirmed kill”.
On Saturday the US Department of Defense said it had conducted the strike targeting Mansoor “in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region”. It did not confirm Mansoor’s death, but an official said he was believed to have been killed along with another male in the attack, which took place south-west of the Pakistani town of Ahmad Wal.
The Pentagon statement said Mansoor was “the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel and coalition partners”.
Mansoor was “an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban”, the Pentagon said, “prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict”.
source : abna24
