- PM, Foreign Office denounce US drone strike on Mullah Akhtar Mansour, say such attacks violate Pakistan’s sovereignty
- Pentagon says Afghan Taliban leader was hampering peace efforts, drone attack carried out on Obama’s order
- Kerry says he informed PM Nawaz about Mansour’s killing after confirming his death in drone strike
Pakistan on Sunday denounced the US drone strike believed to have killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour as a violation of its air space, stressing that only negotiations could bring lasting peace in Afghanistan.
Almost 24 hours after the US and Afghan authorities claimed to have killed the Afghan Taliban chief, Pakistan has not confirmed his killing.
The statement issued by the Foreign Office late Sunday said one of the victims of the attack was a driver named Muhammad Azam while the identity of the second “is being verified”.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while talking to journalists after landing in London, said that the US authorities had not informed them of the attack beforehand but that he had been told by US Secretary of State John Kerry that they had carried out a drone strike killing Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
“It has not been ascertained if Mullah Akhtar was killed in the drone strike last night,” PM Nawaz Sharif said.
The PM, however, added that such strikes are against the sovereignty of the state.
The FO statement said, “On late Saturday 21st May, 2016, the United States shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area,” in which Mansour was targeted.
“This information was shared with the prime minister and the chief of army staff after the drone strike.”
The statement denounced the drone attack as a “violation of [Pakistan’s] sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well”.
It said that a four-country group comprising the United States, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan last met on Wednesday to discuss ways to restart stalled peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban and that the group had collectively decided “a politically negotiated settlement was the only viable option for lasting peace in Afghanistan”.
The statement adds: “According to the information gathered so far, a person named Wali Muhammad S/o Shah Muhammad carrying a Pakistani passport and an ID Card, resident of Qilla Abdullah, entered Pakistan from Taftan border on May 21. His passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa. He was travelling on a vehicle hired from a transport company in Taftan. This vehicle was found destroyed at Kochaki along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The driver’s name was Muhammad Azam whose body has been identified and collected by his relatives. The identity of the second body is being verified on the basis of evidence found at the site of the incident and other relevant information.”
DEAD OR NOT:
Two Pakistani intelligence officials were earlier quoted by a news agency as saying that the drone struck a Toyota Corolla near Quetta, killing two people whose bodies were burned beyond recognition.
The FO’s statement came hours after it said Pakistan was “seeking clarification” on the reported drone strike targeting Mansour.
Earlier on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that he had notified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by telephone of a US drone strike that ‘likely killed’ Mullah Mansour. Kerry, however, declined to elaborate on the timing of the notifications.
Moreover, a senior commander with the Afghan Taliban said Mansour was killed in a US drone strike. Mullah Abdul Rauf was quoted as saying Sunday that Mansour died in the strike late Friday night. He said the strike took place “in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area”.
They did not confirm whether Mansour was among them but said the bodies had been moved to a hospital in Quetta.
Separately, a member of the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban’s leadership council, said that Mansour had been unreachable on his mobile phone since Saturday night.
“We are not sure if something is really wrong or if he purposely switched off his phone fearing an attack,” he said on condition of anonymity.
Former ambassador to Afghanistan Rustam Shah Mohmand weighing in on the matter said that it is “quite likely” Mansour is dead.
Kerry said that the Afghan leadership was also apprised of the air strike ordered by US President Barack Obama.
STILL TO CONFIRM, THE AFGHAN OFFICIALS:
Afghan authorities were reported to be scrambling to confirm Mansour’s fate.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office on Sunday confirmed the strike, adding that they were investigating whether Mansour had in fact been killed.
“The Afghan government is trying to gather details regarding the fate of Mullah Mansour,” the Afghan presidential palace said in a statement. “This drone strike shows that terrorists fuelling conflict will not be safe anywhere.”
Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah confirmed on Sunday that Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan a day earlier.
“Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour was killed in a drone strike in Quetta, Pakistan, at 04:30 pm yesterday. His car was attacked in Dahl Bandin,” Abdullah said in a tweet, referring to a district in Balochistan just over the border with Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s main intelligence service, the National Directorate for Security (NDS) also confirmed Mansour’s death. “Mansour was being closely monitored for a while… until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle,” the NDS said.
AFTER MANSOUR’S ELIMINATION:
The drone attack came just days after representatives from the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan held another round of negotiations in Islamabad aimed at reviving long-stalled direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
The elimination of Mansour, who swiftly consolidated power following a bitter Taliban leadership struggle after the death of Mullah Omar was revealed last year, could spark new succession battles within the fractious movement.
It is possible there may be infighting in the Taliban regarding succession after Mansour’s death, particularly between Mullah Omar’s brother Mullah Abdul Manan and son Mullah Yaqub, and Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Haqqani network chief, Rustam Shah Mohmand said, as Haqqani was Mansour’s deputy and operational commander.
The deaths of Taliban leaders have often been falsely reported, and Mansour himself was rumoured to have been killed last December.
Mansour was formally appointed head of the Afghan Taliban in July last year following the revelation that the group’s founder Mullah Omar had been dead for two years.
The group saw a resurgence under the firebrand supremo with striking military victories, helping to cement his authority by burnishing his credentials as a commander.
They briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz in September in their most spectacular victory in 14 years. Southern opium-rich Helmand province is almost entirely under the insurgent control.
