Death of Taliban leader

Obama confirms death of Taliban leader

By Nick Gass

The White House on Monday confirmed that a drone strike targeting Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour had been successful in killing the senior Afghan Taliban leader.

Hailing the strike as "an important milestone in our longstanding effort to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan," President Barack Obama said Monday in a statement from Hanoi, Vietnam, that the U.S. has "removed the leader of an organization that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and Coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like al Qaeda."

The United States had held off from confirming the death until Monday, while the Afghan government's spy agency said Sunday that the strike had killed Mansour just over the border of Pakistan, whose government protested the "violation of its sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well." The Pakistani government sounded a similar alarm after the U.S. in 2011 conducted a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that resulted in the death of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Sources within the Taliban confirmed Mansour's death to various news outlets on Sunday. Previous attempted peace talks with Mansour failed as the Taliban leader showed little willingness to engage after succeeding Mullah Mohammed Omar last summer.

Mansour, Obama noted, had rejected peace-talk efforts with the Afghan government, suggesting that the Taliban would do well to seize "the opportunity to pursue the only real path for ending this long conflict — joining the Afghan government in a reconciliation process that leads to lasting peace and stability."

Even with the successful strike, Obama's statement did not suggest a shift in strategy toward Afghanistan, where 9,800 U.S. troops are currently deployed.

"We will continue taking action against extremist networks that target the United States," Obama said. "We will work on shared objectives with Pakistan, where terrorists that threaten all our nations must be denied safe haven. After so many years of conflict, today gives the people of Afghanistan and the region a chance at a different, better future."