The U.S. conducted an airstrike against Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, the Pentagon said Saturday.
The Pentagon said the strike occurred in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. But in a release, the Defense Department didn’t say whether the strike was successful or address Mansour’s condition.
“Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and coalition partners,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in the statement. “Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict.”
Cook continued, “Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour’s assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous U.S. and coalition personnel. We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available.”
Developing story – more to come