“Drone strikes have added to the complexity of the Afghan conflict”, said.
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A DNA test has confirmed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s death in a United States drone strike in the restive Pakistani province of Balochistan on May 21.
Following the strike, US Secretary of State John Kerry said leaders of both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the air strike but he declined to elaborate on the timing of the notifications, which he said included a telephone call from him to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Aziz also expressed Pakistan’s reservations on drone strikes in Pakistan.
“U.S. officials whose name I do not know accepted responsibility in the media for this incident, so I want justice and request legal action against those responsible for it”, said Qasim in a police report dated May 25, a copy of which was seen by AFP.
“My brother was innocent, he was very poor and he has left behind four small children”. He has four young children. The DNA of one man killed in the drone strike was successfully matched with a close relative of Mansour, the ministry’s statement said.
None of the three can afford the peace talk option while the organization they lead is suffering from two of the worst setbacks in recent memory, less than a year apart (the 2015 announcement of the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour’s death in May).
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry has confirmed Mansour’s death after carrying out a DNA test matching with his relatives from Afghanistan who claimed his remains. “We are still waiting for DNA test results of the body, and the body will not be given to anyone until the DNA results are received”.
Muhammad Azam, a Pakistani citizen, was driving Mansour from the Pakistan-Iran border to Quetta, capital of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, when a USA drone destroyed the vehicle in the Koshki area of Noshki district, killing them both.
A Pentagon source only said that the USA government does not recognize verdicts issued by courts overseas, mainly those linked to national security.
The selection of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada as the Taliban’s new leader over other hardliners, including the head of the Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani, had created a level of optimism that the group might intend to change course when it comes to peace talks with the Afghan government.
Drone attacks have proven extremely controversial with the Pakistani public and rights groups.
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Mansour’s death was unusual not just because the US owned up to the attack, but also because it was targeted at a prominent figure in the Taliban, which has generally been off-limits under the Obama administration.
