PTIUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 03:07 PM IST
This photograph taken on May 21, 2016 shows Pakistani local residents gathering around a destroyed vehicle hit by a drone strike in which Afghan Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was believed to be travelling in the remote town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan, around 160 kilometres west of Quetta.
Afghan authorities scrambled May 22 to confirm the fate of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour after US officials said he was likely killed in drone strikes -- a potential blow to the resurgent militant movement.
/ AFP PHOTO / - |
Hanoi: Barack Obama today confirmed that Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US strike, hailing his death as an “important milestone” in efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan.
“We have removed the leader of an organisation that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and Coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like al Qa’ida,” the US President said in a statement, referring to Saturday’s strike which took place on Pakistani soil.
