Mullah Akhtar Mansour killed in drone attack: Taliban

The Afghan Taliban militant group has confirmed reports that its leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was killed in a US assassination drone strike against Pakistan’s conflict-ridden southern province of Balochistan.

Mullah Abdul Rauf, a senior commander of the militant group, said on Sunday that Mansour died in an aerial attack on Friday night.

Rauf said the strike took place “in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.”

Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani’s office has confirmed the strike but did not confirm Mansour’s death, though the country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, said Mansour was “more than likely” dead.

(This item is being updated)