NAYPYITAW: US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour posed a "continuing imminent threat" to US personnel in Afghanistan and to Afghans, and was a threat to peace.
US officials in Washington said on Saturday US missile-firing drones had attacked Mansour and probably killed him in a strike in southwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, authorised by US President Barack Obama.
"Yesterday, the United States conducted a precision air strike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Mansour posed a continuing, imminent threat" to US personnel and Afghans, Kerry told a news conference in the Myanmar capital.
"This action sends a clear message to the world that we will continue to stand with our Afghan partners as they work to build a more stable, united, secure and prosperous Afghanistan."
Kerry said the leaders of both Pakistan and Afghanistan were **tified of the air strike but he declined to elaborate on the timing of the **tifications, which he said included a telephone call from him to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
"Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort and to bringing an end to the violence and suffering people of Afghanistan have endured for so many years **w.
He was also directly opposed to the peace negotiation and to the reconciliation process," Kerry said.
05-22-2016, 01:08 PM
Kerry says Pak, Afghan were **tified of drone strike on Mullah Akhtar
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