Taliban confirm leader in US drone strike

The Afghan Taliban have confirmed the death of leader Mullah Aktar 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, told the Associated Press on Sunday that Mansour died in the strike on Friday night. Rauf said the strike took place “in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area”.

The office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed the strike but did not confirm Mansour’s death, though the country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, said Mansour was “more than likely” dead.

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 the Associated Press he was believed 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”.

It is unusual for the US to offer such detailed commentary about a drone strike in Pakistan. Because drones are part of a highly classified CIA programme, officials usually say they are unable to even acknowledge the use of the aircraft, let alone confirm who was targeted.

The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour may open up a battle for succession and deepen fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder Mullah Mohammad Omar was confirmed last year, more than two years after he died.

Saturday's mission, which U.S. officials said was authorized by President Barack Obama and included multiple drones, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the Western-backed government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents.

US officials said the Saturday drone strike was near the town of Ahmad Wal. It appeared to be the first ever known strike in the vast southern province of Balochistan. Nearly all previous drone attacks have been tightly constrained to specific areas of North and South Waziristan – tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan where the US is thought to have negotiated secret arrangements with Pakistan.

Mansoor was a founding member of the Taliban, who knew Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden personally. He emerged as leader after Omar’s death, following a period of internal dissension.

In December he was reported to have been injured in a gunfight between insurgent factions in Pakistan.

The Pentagon statement added: “Since the death of Mullah Omar and [Mansoor’s] assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and coalition personnel.”