US drone strike on Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour - what happens next?
The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour could change the course of the Afghan insurgency, which had grown fiercer under his leadership
The death of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour by a US drone strike has been confirmed by top Afghan officials and a senior Taliban commander, a potential blow to the resurgent militant movement.
The apparent elimination of Mansour, who had consolidated power following a bitter Taliban leadership struggle over the past year, could also spark new succession battles within the fractious movement.
“Mansour was the target and was likely killed” in the remote Pakistani town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan province by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US special forces, an American official said Saturday.
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On Sunday, Afghan government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah issued the highest level confirmation on Sunday that Mansour had been killed as did Afghanistan’s main intelligence service, the National Directorate for Security.
The Taliban has not officially commented on the drone strike, however a senior commander of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Abdul Rauf, who recently reconciled with Mansour after initially rebelling against his ascension to the leadership, said that Mansour died in the strike late Friday “in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.”