VOA News Akmal Dawi, Masood Farivar May 26, 2016 WASHINGTON—Days after a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan, near the Afghan border, killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, it remains unclear how the slain leader’s location was discovered. Mansoor was killed in a remote part of Baluchistan, a province that has been thought off limits for U.S.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 26, 2016 U.S. President Barack Obama has said the Taliban are unlikely to come to the table for peace talks with the Afghan government “anytime soon.” Obama was speaking on May 26 on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Japan, a day after the Taliban appointed Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 25, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Afghanistan’s Taliban says Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed the new chief of the group following the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. In a Pashto language statement on Wednesday, the Tailban also formally confirmed Mansoor was killed in a U.S. drone attack last week. “Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has
VOA News Ayesha Tanzeem, Ayaz Gul May 24, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s interior minister said Tuesday that a blood relative of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor had come forward to claim the charred body of the man who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told a news conference in
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 24, 2016 The Pentagon has said U.S. forces killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur in a drone strike on May 21 because he posed “specific, imminent threats” to U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said on May 23 that the drone attack against Mansur in
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 24, 2016 ISLAMABAD—While the Afghan Taliban have still not officially confirmed or denied the death of their chief, Mullah Mansoor, in a U.S. drone attack, insurgent leaders appear to be preparing the ground for a leadership transition. In a Pashto-language statement released to pro-Taliban media outlets, a senior member of
Press TV May 23 2016 Islamabad has summoned the US ambassador to voice its concerns over a recent US drone strike on Pakistani soil that reportedly killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour. According to a statement released by Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Monday, David Hale was called in by the Special Assistant to the
VOA News May 23, 2016 Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, the Taliban leader killed in a U.S. drone strike Saturday, crossed into Pakistan from Iran about five hours before he died. A VOA reporter has seen his passport, showing his entry and exit stamps. Mansoor, an Afghan citizen, carried a Pakistani passport when he entered the country
VOA News Ayaz Gul, Carla Babb May 23, 2016 ISLAMABAD/PENTAGON—U.S. President Barack Obama said the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor “removed the leader of an organization that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and coalition forces.” Obama discussed the killing of the Afghan Taliban leader during a news conference Monday
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 22, 2016 Pakistan has denounced a U.S. drone attack believed to have killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur as a violation of its sovereignty. “On late Saturday, May 21, 2016, the United States shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area,”