Obama confirms Taliban leader has been killed
US President Barack Obama confirmed in a statement that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour had been killed in an airstrike.
In a press release issued by Mr. Obama on Monday, June 23, the US President considered the death of the Taliban leader an important step towards bringing peace to Afghanistan.
The press release, which was released during Mr. Obama's visit to Vietnam, also stated that the attack is part of efforts to "bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan" and should be used as leverage to bring the Taliban to peace and negotiations with the Afghan government.
Mr. Obama added that the Taliban should seize this opportunity as the only real way to end the long war in Afghanistan and participate in the Afghan peace process that will lead to lasting peace in the country.
He said that the United States is now certain of the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, although officials did not immediately confirm his death, but they are now certain of this.
Mr. Obama said that the Taliban remain a target for the United States because they plan to carry out ongoing attacks on American forces and allies. The United States will also take action against radical networks that target the United States.
The US President also said that he is working with Pakistan on common goals and that wherever terrorists threaten people, there should be no safe haven for them.
He said that after years of war, the people of Afghanistan and the region should be given the chance to live differently and better.
Mansour killed on Pakistani soil
This is the second time, after Osama bin Laden, that the largest leader of an insurgent group has been killed on Pakistani soil. Pakistani authorities have remained silent on the matter.
News agencies published images of a Pakistani passport found at the site of the airstrike. The image on the Pakistani passport resembles the one of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour.
It appears that the owner of this passport had returned to Pakistan from Iran on the same day of the American drone attack.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry also said yesterday that a passport was found at the site of a US drone attack on a vehicle that the Pentagon said was carrying Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, indicating that the person carrying it had traveled to Iran.
According to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, the passport was issued in the name of "Wali Muhammad."
Social media has published quotes from Pakistani officials who consider the attack a violation of their airspace and protest it.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry also said that Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not informed in advance about the drone attack.
Earlier, the Afghan National Directorate of Security confirmed that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour had been killed in an airstrike in Pakistan's Balochistan province.
The agency issued a statement saying that Mullah Mansoor was killed at around 3:45 PM local time on Saturday (May 21) on a road in the Dalbandin area of Balochistan province, Pakistan.
The Afghan intelligence agency wrote that the Taliban leader had been under "serious pursuit" for some time and was targeted in an airstrike while riding in a car/vehicle, and was killed along with the other occupants of the vehicle.
