Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was "likely killed" in a rare US drone strike inside Pakistan, US officials said today, in what could be a body blow for the insurgents and a major boost to fledgling peace process in war-torn Afghanistan.
Mansour and another male combatant were targeted yesterday by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations forces as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near the town of Ahmad Wal in Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, the officials said.
The Pentagon has confirmed it targeted Mansour in strikes but said they were still assessing the results of the operation authorised by President Barack Obama.
A senior commander with the Afghan Taliban said Mansour has been killed in the US drone strike.
Mullah Abdul Rauf told The Associated Press that Mansour died in the strike late Friday night. But the Afghan government said it could not confirm it.
Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and the one-eyed reclusive long-time spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar in Pakistan in 2013.
"Mansour has been 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," said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook.
"Mansour 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," he said.
He, however, said the Department of Defense was still assessing the results of its strike inside Pakistan. The drone strike inside Pakistan was a rare one since US Navy Seals killed Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a stealth raid in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011.
"Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour'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," Cook said.
The United States informed both Pakistan and Afghanistan shortly after the strike, a senior White House official said.
In Kabul, Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah said that if Mansour's death is confirmed major changes within the ranks of the Taliban could be expected.
Addressing a press conference, Abdullah said if Mansour is dead a number of Taliban leaders could join the peace process.
He said that it was possible that Mansour was killed in a targeted drone attack on Saturday in Pakistan.
According to Dawa Khan Menapal, the Afghan president's
deputy spokesman, they are still waiting for confirmation of Mansour's death.
In a statement issued by the president's office, he said that Mansour had continuously rejected peace and continued to bring carnage and terror to the people of Afghanistan.
Abdullah said Mansour had been a major obstacle in the way of the Afghan peace process and that his death would be a big blow to the insurgent group.
The possible death of Mansour was also hailed by top American lawmakers.
"I welcome the news that Mullah Akhtar Mansour has met his just end. I salute the skill and professionalism of the US Armed Forces who carried out this mission. Their actions have made America and Afghanistan safer," said Senator John McCain, Chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.
"I hope this strike against the Taliban's top leader will lead the Administration to reconsider its policy of prohibiting US forces from targeting the Taliban," he said.
Noting that the US troops are in Afghanistan today for the same reason they deployed there in 2001 - to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for global terrorists, McCain said Taliban remains allied with terrorists, including al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network.
"It is the one force most able and willing to turn Afghanistan into a terrorist safe haven once again," McCain said.
"If verified, the death of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour would be an important victory in the fight against terror and welcome news to our military personnel in Afghanistan and the Afghan government," said Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"I am thankful for the work our military and intelligence communities are doing to bring justice to those responsible for spreading evil. If Pakistan would play a more constructive role, we could destabilise the Taliban far more rapidly," Corker said.
Born in Afghanistan, Mansour was part of the Taliban from the group's beginning in the 1990s and has effectively been in charge since 2013.
The death of Mansour, if confirmed, would be a big blow for the Taliban, analysts said, adding that a vacuum created by his death would once again trigger a leadership struggle.
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Mansour formerly headed the leadership council of the Taliban and Islamic scholars, also known as the Quetta Shura, which is composed of longtime leaders who direct the Taliban's operations from Pakistan's Baluchistan province, according to the Jamestown Foundation, a global research and analysis group.
According to the UN Security Council sanctions list, Mansour previously was the Taliban's minister of civil aviation and transportation and was considered "a prominent member of the Taliban leadership."
"He was repatriated to Afghanistan in September 2006 following detention in Pakistan.
He is involved in drug trafficking and was active in the provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika in Afghanistan as of May 2007. He was also the Taliban 'Governor' of Kandahar as of May 2007," the UN document said.
He was an active recruiter in the Taliban's fight against the Afghan government, and before his appointment as Omar's deputy in 2010, he was chief of military affairs for a regional Taliban military council that oversees operations in Nimruz and Helmand provinces, the United Nations said.
