Obama Confirms Taliban Leader Has Been Killed
Barack Obama, the President of the United States, confirmed in a statement that the leader of the Taliban group, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, has been killed in an airstrike.
In a newsletter published today, Monday, June 3rd, by Mr. Obama, the U.S. President described the death of the Taliban leader as an important step toward bringing peace to Afghanistan.
In this newsletter, released during Mr. Obama’s visit to Vietnam, it was also stated that this strike is part of efforts to “bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan” and should be used as leverage to bring the Taliban to the negotiation table with the Afghan government.
Mr. Obama added that the Taliban should seize this opportunity as the only real way to end the prolonged war in Afghanistan and participate in the Afghan peace process, which will lead to lasting peace in the country.
He said that the United States is now certain of Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s death, although officials did not immediately confirm his death, but now they are confident about it.
Mr. Obama said that the Taliban still remains a target for America because they plan continuous attacks against American forces and its allies. America will also take necessary action against extremist networks that target America.
The U.S. President also said that he is working with Pakistan on shared objectives 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’s Death on Pakistani Soil
After Osama bin Laden, this is the second time that the leader of a major insurgent group has been killed on Pakistani soil. Pakistani officials have remained silent on the matter so far.
News agencies published images of a Pakistani passport found at the airstrike site. The image shown on this Pakistani passport resembles the image available of Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour.
It appears that the passport holder had returned from Iran to Pakistan on the same day of the American drone strike.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry also said yesterday that at the site of the American drone strike on a vehicle which according to the Pentagon was carrying Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, a passport was found showing that its holder had traveled to Iran.
According to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, the passport was issued in the name of “Wali Muhammad.”
Social media has published quotes from Pakistani officials who considered the strike a violation of their airspace and protested against it.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry also said that Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, had not been informed of the drone strike beforehand.
Earlier, Afghanistan’s National Security Directorate confirmed that Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the leader of the Taliban group, was killed in an airstrike in Balochistan Province, Pakistan.
In a statement, the agency said that Mullah Mansour was killed around 3:45 p.m. on Saturday (May 21/June 1) local time on a road in the Dalbandin area of Balochistan Province, Pakistan.
Afghanistan’s intelligence organization wrote that the Taliban leader had been under “intensive pursuit” for some time and was targeted by an airstrike while riding in a vehicle, and he and other passengers in the vehicle were killed.
