Tolo News: In the hours before he was killed in an American drone strike, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the Taliban leader, knew something was wrong, according to a New York Times report. The report said that he was on his way home from a secret visit to Iran in May 2016, driving across a remote stretch
Ayaz Gul VOA News April 28, 2017 ISLAMABAD — The Taliban has unleashed its annual so-called “spring offensive” in Afghanistan, saying it will mainly target U.S.-led foreign “occupation” troops to force them to quit the country. In a formal announcement released Friday, the Islamist insurgency claimed “Operation Mansouri” went into action early Friday morning across all
Ayaz Gul VOA News October 23, 2016 ISLAMABAD — Fugitive Afghan Taliban leaders are being increasingly pressured to relocate from Pakistan along with their families and businesses for refusing to join peace talks with Kabul, officials and insurgent sources told VOA in background interviews. “The squeeze is continuing on them [the Taliban] and some have already
Ayaz Gul VOA News October 18, 2016 ISLAMABAD — The Taliban has formally refuted reports of secret meetings with Afghan government officials, insisting there has been no change in the group’s policy for holding peace negotiations. The Guardian newspaper, in an exclusive article published Tuesday, quoted anonymous Afghan officials and sources within the Taliban as confirming
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News October 12, 2016 ISLAMABAD — Afghan Taliban appear to be facing financial pressure since the death of their former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was more adept at managing money, according to the spokesman of NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. “The evidence we’ve seen of that is an increase in their
1TV: Afghan Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour who died in a U.S. drone attack in Pakistan last month had been negotiating with officials during his stay in Iran, an Iranian newspaper reported Tuesday. Jahan News claimed that Mansour had been in Iran for two months and that his killing came a week after he left the country. The paper
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty By Rabia Akram and Frud Bezhan June 2, 2016 KABUL — Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the killing of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur in a U.S. drone strike has damaged the prospects of a negotiated peace settlement with the militant group. Karzai, in an interview with RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal in Kabul
Pepe Escobar (via Counter Punch): The Pentagon said Mansour was on Obama’s kill list because he had become “an obstacle to peace and reconciliation.” There’s way more to it, of course. Bets can be made that Mansour’s kill will not reduce Afghanistan’s opium production – which has been steadily on the rise for years now. Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada,
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 31, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Pakistan said the body of Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike more than a week ago, has been “handed over to his relatives” for burial. Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan told reporters in Islamabad Tuesday the action came after DNA
Michael Hughes: There is little reason to believe that the U.S. removed an obstacle to peace talks in Afghanistan by killing Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour because his replacement is even more radical and committed to waging a “holy war” against Kabul. The Taliban’s newly-appointed emir, Haibatullah Akhundzada, may not have the military expertise but is