Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was likely killed Saturday in a US drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan, a USA defense department official said.
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A USA official said that although the assessment of the airstrike is ongoing “Mansur was the target and was likely killed”. “Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid pledged their allegiance to the new Islamic Emirate leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor at a grand gathering on Tuesday”, the Taliban said at the time in a statement sent to journalists.
The Taliban quickly issued a statement denying that Mansour was killed, even before the Pentagon made its announcement that a USA airstrike Saturday targeted him.
“The opportunity to conduct this operation to eliminate the threat that Mansour posed was a distinctive one, and we acted on it”, the official said.
A USA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that President Barack Obama had authorised the operation, in which several drone aircraft had launched a strike on a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal, a town in western Pakistan. He called Mansour “an obstacle to peace and reconciliation” between the Taliban and the Afghan government who has barred top Taliban officials from joining peace talks.
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His appointment as Taliban chief was disputed with a rival group selecting their own leader. His succession widened the internal split between fighters who want to use battlefield gains to strengthen the Taliban’s hand in negotiations with Kabul and those who want to continue the insurgency and ultimately overthrow the Afghan government.
