- Interior Ministry spokesman says DNA test confirms Mullah Mansour’s death in US drone strike
- Relatives of driver who died in the drone strike on Mansour file FIR against unnamed US officials
A week after the US drone strike in Balochistan’s Noshki district, the Ministry of Interior on Sunday finally confirmed, based on the DNA test, that the second person killed in the US drone attack in Balochistan was former chief of Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
“It is confirmed that Mullah Mansour was killed in the US drone strike in Noshki area of Balochistan,” Interior Ministry’s spokesperson said.
Meanwhile the relatives of the deceased taxi driver Muhammad Azam, who was also killed in the US drone strike, registered a case against US officials for the killing.
The Interior Ministry’s spokesperson said while confirming Mansour’s death that the confirmation had been made after conducting a DNA test of Mullah Mansour’s body and matching it with the DNA of a close relative of Mullah Mansour who had come to claim the body.
“DNA of Mansour matched with one of his relatives who came to receive his body from Afghanistan.”
Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had confirmed on Thursday – five days after the drone strike – the death of Afghan Taliban chief in Balochistan.
“All indicators confirm that the person killed in the drone strike was Mullah Mansour, who was travelling on a fake identity,” confirmed the PM’s advisor on foreign affairs.
RELATIVES OF DRIVER FILE FIR AGAINST US:
A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against unnamed US officials who killed a driver along with the Taliban chief.
The FIR was lodged by Azam’s brother, Muhammad Qasim, at the Mal Levies station with the Mal Tehsildar in the Noshki district.
“I seek justice in this case. Legal action should be taken against all those US officials responsible for killing my innocent brother in a drone strike near Noshki,” read a statement in the FIR.
The FIR does not mention any US officials by name.
His family members said Azam, a father of four children, was the sole earner in his family. They called for action to be taken against the US officials responsible for the drone strike.
The FIR has been lodged on different counts including murder, terrorism and laws that deal with explosives.
Azam and Mansour were killed in a US drone strike on May 21 in a remote area near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Azam was the driver of the car the Taliban leader was travelling in.
The mission, which the US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, included multiple drones.
Following the strike, US Secretary of State John Kerry said leaders of both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the air strike but he declined to elaborate on the timing of the notifications, which he said included a telephone call from him to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
HOPE FOR PEACE?:
Earlier on Thursday, Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, confirmed that it was Mullah Mansour who had perished in the drone attack.
Taliban had stepped up their activities since Mansour took charge last year after it was revealed that the Taliban founder Mullah Muhammad Omar had already been dead for two years. The Pakistani side, however, said that Mansour “was not opposed to peace talks”.
Sartaj Aziz said: “The death of Mullah Akhter Mansour has added to the complexity of the Afghan conflict.”
Aziz said that the drone strike was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty as well as breach of principles of the United Nations Charter governing the conduct of states.
According to Aziz, the drone strike has undermined the Afghan peace process.
NEW TALIBAN CHIEF REJECTS TALKS:
But while Pakistan refused to confirm Mansour’s death for days after the drone strike, the Taliban moved ahead and picked a new chief. Top cleric, Maulvi Haibatullah Akhundzada, was chosen as the new chief in a swift transition of power after officially confirming the death of Mansour.
Maulvi Haibatullah, who was previously one of Mansoor’s deputies, said after taking charge of the militant movement that there will be no peace talks to end the conflict.