Kurzweil
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- May 25, 2011
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Afghanistan's spy agency has confirmed that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been killed, after the US targeted him in a drone strike.
The drone targeted his vehicle in a remote area of south-west Pakistan, near the Afghan border, on Saturday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Mansour has posed "a continuing, imminent threat to US personnel".
Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar.
Source: BBC
================
The Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor has been killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan, the militant group and the Kabul government have confirmed.
A senior Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Rauf, told Associated Press (AP) 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 death on Twitter:
It blamed the attack on his “refusal to answer repeated calls” to end violence in the country.
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 told AP 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”.
The drone targeted his vehicle in a remote area of south-west Pakistan, near the Afghan border, on Saturday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Mansour has posed "a continuing, imminent threat to US personnel".
Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar.
Source: BBC
================
The Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor has been killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan, the militant group and the Kabul government have confirmed.
A senior Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Rauf, told Associated Press (AP) 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 death on Twitter:
It blamed the attack on his “refusal to answer repeated calls” to end violence in the country.
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 told AP 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”.