He did not elaborate. After a massive suicide bomb attack killed almost 70 people and injured hundreds more in Kabul on April 19, which some officials suggested was planned in Pakistan, Ghani said he would no longer seek Islamabad’s help to woo the Taliban.
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Toner said the United States government will continue to talk to Pakistan about “how we can collaborate and cooperate on rooting out these terrorist organisations. which continue to use Pakistan’s territory to carry out attacks”.
Speaking on condition of anonymity an American official said U.S. drones targeted Mansour and another fighter when they were driving a auto in Pakistan. “Mansur has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict”.
“We are not re-entering the day-to-day combat operations that are now being conducted by Afghanistan forces”, he said.
The drone attack against Mansour just inside Pakistan on Saturday was carried out under US rules of engagement that allow USA forces to conduct defensive strikes against people engaged in activity threatening US and coalition personnel, said Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
It said that a four country group comprising of the United States, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan last met on Wednesday to discuss ways to restart stalled peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban. Previous strikes there were done under U.S. rules on counter terrorism.
United States military officials said they had discussed their interest in Mansour with Pakistan.
But reaction from Islamabad has otherwise been relatively muted and a number of questions remain over what exactly happened.
The purported passport holder was believed to have returned to Pakistan from Iran on May 21, the day of the drone strike targeting Mansour.
Senior Afghan Taliban figures were meeting today to agree on a successor to Mullah Mansour. “Then it is my responsibility as commander in chief not to stand by but to make sure that we send a clear signal to the Taliban and others that we are going to protect our people and that’s exactly the message that has been sent”.
The Taliban have so far made no official statement on the fate of Mansour. But the USA intelligence officials questioned that account, saying they have seen little credible evidence of close ties between the Sunni Muslim extremist Taliban and Shiite Iran.
Saturday s drone strike, the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil, sent a shockwave through the rebel group, which had seen a new resurgence under Mansour. This was a clear-headed move that should get Pakistan’s attention, and it should raise the anxiety of Taliban leaders who have come to take safe refuge for granted.
Mullah Abdul Rauf, who recently reconciled with Mansour after initially rebelling against his ascension to the leadership, told The Associated Press that Mansour died in the strike late Friday “in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area”.
Yaqoob initially opposed Mansour’s claim to the leadership when his father’s death was belatedly made public past year.
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Mansour had led the Taliban since last summer’s surprise announcement of the death of Mullah Omar, the movement’s founder.
