Breaking News Utv Pakistan: Afghan Taliban leader likely killed in US drone strike near Pak-Afghan border

<img height="480" src="http://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mullah-Akhtar-01-10-650x488.jpg" width="640" /><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #606060; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">The United States conducted a drone strike on Saturday against the leader of the Afghan Taliban, likely killing him close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region in a mission authorised by US President Barack Obama, US officials said.</strong><br />
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The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, should it be confirmed, could further fracture the Taliban—an outcome that experts cautioned might make the insurgents even less likely to participate in long-stalled peace efforts.</div>
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The mission, which included multiple drones, demonstrated a clear willingness by Obama to go after the Afghan Taliban leadership now that the insurgents control or contest more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since being ousted by a US-led intervention in 2001.</div>
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Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook confirmed an air strike targeting Mansour in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region but declined to speculate on his fate, although US officials speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters he likely was killed.</div>
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"We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available," Cook said.</div>
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The US drones targeted Mansour and another combatant as the men rode in a vehicle in a remote area, said another US official speaking on condition of anonymity.</div>
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US special operations forces operated the drones in a mission authorized by Obama that took place at about 6 am EDT (1000 GMT), the official said. That would have placed it at Saturday at 3 pm in Pakistan.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14pt;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Afghan govt, intelligence confirms Taliban chief's death</strong></span></div>
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Afghan government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah issued the highest level confirmation that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had been killed in the attack by US.</div>
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Abdullah said Mansour was killed in a drone strike when his car was attacked at 04:30 pm on Saturday.</div>
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Afghanistan's main intelligence service, the National Directorate for Security also said that it had confirmed Mansour's death.</div>
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Pakistan's Foreign Office said it was "seeking clarification" about the US drone strike against the Afghan Taliban leader.</div>
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"I have seen the reports. We are seeking clarification," Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in a statement.</div>
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He added that Pakistan wanted the Taliban to return to the negotiating table to end the long war in Afghanistan.</div>
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"Military action is not a solution," he added.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14pt;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Pakistan, Afghan leaders notified: Kerry</strong></span></div>
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Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that 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.</div>
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"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.</div>
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"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."</div>
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Kerry said the 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 Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14pt;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Confirmation from Senior Taliban commander</strong></span></div>
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Meanwhile, a Taliban commander close to Mansour, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, denied Mansour was dead.</div>
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"We heard about these baseless reports but this not first time," the commander said.</div>
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"Just wanted to share with you my own information that Mullah Mansour has not been killed."</div>
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But news agency the Associated Press reported that a senior Taliban commander had confirmed Mullah Akhtar Mansour's death in the drone strike.</div>
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Mullah Abdul Rauf, who recently reconciled with Mansour after initially rebelling against his ascension to the leadership, said that Mansour died in the strike late Friday "in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area," the Associated Press reported.</div>
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In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of another Taliban leader near Quetta in Pakistan.</div>
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"The opportunity to conduct this operation to eliminate the threat that Mansour posed was a distinctive one and we acted on it," a State Department official said.</div>
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There has been no official confirmation from US authorities.</div>