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,” in which Mansur was targeted, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement.
The May 22 statement said the United States did not inform Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif before conducting the strike on Pakistani soil.
“This information was shared with the prime minister and the chief of army staff after the drone strike,” the statement said.
The strike was the first-ever known U.S. drone strike in Balochistan Province, where the Taliban leadership is believed to be based.
The Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, has said that Mansur was killed in the attack. Washington has not issued an official confirmation.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the United States was studying the results of the attack.
Pakistan said a body found at the site of a U.S. drone attack targeting Mansur bears the name of a Pakistani man named Walid Muhammad.
“[Muhammad’s] passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa,” the Foreign Office said in its statement.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP