Conflicting reports if Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor killed

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Conflicting reports if Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor killed

There are conflicting reports whether the U.S. has killed the leader of the Taliban. U.S. forces launched a drone strike in Pakistan aimed at Mullah Mansoor and the strike killed at least two people. Over a day later, it is still uncertain if Mansoor was one of them.

CCTV’s Jessica Stone joined us with new details.

A Pakistan hospital near Quetta received corpses in need of identification, Sunday, after reports of a U.S. drone strike near the Afghan border. Afghanistan’s Intelligence Agency says Mullah Mansoor – the leader of the Taliban – is among the dead.

But Afghan officials have falsely reported Mansoor’s death before. Afghanistan’s chief executive says Mansoor presided over an escalation in violence against Afghan civilians, as thousands became targets of vehicle bombings and suicide attacks.

“He (Mullah Akhtar Mansoor) was a barrier for the peace talks and from the date he was announced as Taliban’s leader he was behind lots of violence against the Afghan people,”
Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan’s Chief Executive said.

The Pentagon says it targeted Mansoor, Saturday, in a drone strike near the town of Ahmad Wal – not far from Quetta. U.S. officials confirm U.S. President Barack Obama gave the order.

Just last week, Chinese and American diplomats tried to bring the parties together to negotiate a peace deal. The Afghan Taliban sent no one. Kabul didn’t either.

In Myanmar, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke of Mansoor in the past tense. Yet, the U.S. has yet to confirm Mansoor’s death.

“He also was directly opposed to peace negotiations and to the reconciliation process,” Kerry said. “It is time for Afghans to stop fighting and to start building a real future together.”

Afghan officials hope that a future without Mansoor will mean peace is more likely. But the Taliban insurgency still counts Sirajuddin Haqqani – among its members. Afghan and U.S. officials say he’s responsible for last month’s attacks in Kabul, which killed 64 people.