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Afghan Taliban Deny Leader Mansour Has Been Killed - WSJ
Afghan Taliban Deny Leader Mansour Has Been Killed
Statement comes after U.S. officials said group’s Afghan leader had likely been killed in drone strike
By Jessica Donati and
Ehsanullah Amiri
May 22, 2016 6:27 a.m. ET
Taliban officials in Afghanistan on Sunday said their leader is alive, denying that Mullah Akhtar Mansour had likely been killed in a U.S. airstrike while riding in a vehicle in a remote part of Pakistan.
The development comes less than a day after U.S. officials said Mr. Mansour had likely been killed by a drone strike, potentially dealing a significant blow to a militant group that has become resurgent recently against Afghan and coalition forces.
A member of the Taliban who is close to its leadership distributed a message to some associates promising to release an audio message proving Mr. Mansour was still alive.
“The attack did occur and some important military persons were there, but Mansour was not among them,” Mullah Abdul Samad Sani said, according to a person who received the message. “Now we deny it officially and in the next three days we will release Mansour’s audio message.”
A member of the Taliban press team, Emran Khalil, also published a tweet calling the news “completely wrong.”
The group’s main spokesman was unreachable, while a rival faction claimed that Mr. Mansour had been killed.
The Afghan government also provided conflicting statements, as some spokespeople confirmed the strike had taken place but stopped short of saying Mr. Mansour had been killed. The Afghan intelligence agency said he was dead.
“Akhtar Mohammad Mansour has recently been under serious surveillance, and finally, while he was in his car on a main road in the Dalbandi area, was targeted along with others in the car and was killed,” the Afghan intelligence agency said in a statement.
Claims about the death of senior Taliban leaders, including Mr. Mansour, have been made before but have proven to be wrong in some cases. The Taliban itself has a history of denying such incidents that could hurt the militant group. It kept the death of its previous leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, secret for over two years.
People close to the Taliban said the strike took place as senior commanders were traveling to attend a wedding in a Pakistani village near the border with Afghanistan.
Two charred bodies had been transferred to a nearby hospital, but health officials couldn’t be reached for comment and it was unclear if the bodies had been identified. The Taliban’s chief justice official, Mullah Shaikh Abdul Hakim, could have been among those killed in the strike, they said.
A Pakistani news channel reported that relatives had identified one of the bodies as a driver who worked on the route connecting provincial capital Quetta and the western town of Taftan. The identity of the other passenger wasn’t immediately clear.
Pakistan said it was seeking clarification following the reports of the strike against the Taliban’s leader in its territory.
“I reiterate Pakistan’s principled position that Taliban must give up violence and come to negotiation table,” said foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria. “I also reiterate that military action is not a solution.”
—Habib Khan Totakhil in Kabul, and Qasim Nauman and Saeed Shah in Islamabad contributed to this article.
Write to Jessica Donati at Jessica.Donati@wsj.com and Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com
Afghan Taliban Deny Leader Mansour Has Been Killed
Statement comes after U.S. officials said group’s Afghan leader had likely been killed in drone strike
By Jessica Donati and
Ehsanullah Amiri
May 22, 2016 6:27 a.m. ET
Taliban officials in Afghanistan on Sunday said their leader is alive, denying that Mullah Akhtar Mansour had likely been killed in a U.S. airstrike while riding in a vehicle in a remote part of Pakistan.
The development comes less than a day after U.S. officials said Mr. Mansour had likely been killed by a drone strike, potentially dealing a significant blow to a militant group that has become resurgent recently against Afghan and coalition forces.
A member of the Taliban who is close to its leadership distributed a message to some associates promising to release an audio message proving Mr. Mansour was still alive.
“The attack did occur and some important military persons were there, but Mansour was not among them,” Mullah Abdul Samad Sani said, according to a person who received the message. “Now we deny it officially and in the next three days we will release Mansour’s audio message.”
A member of the Taliban press team, Emran Khalil, also published a tweet calling the news “completely wrong.”
The group’s main spokesman was unreachable, while a rival faction claimed that Mr. Mansour had been killed.
The Afghan government also provided conflicting statements, as some spokespeople confirmed the strike had taken place but stopped short of saying Mr. Mansour had been killed. The Afghan intelligence agency said he was dead.
“Akhtar Mohammad Mansour has recently been under serious surveillance, and finally, while he was in his car on a main road in the Dalbandi area, was targeted along with others in the car and was killed,” the Afghan intelligence agency said in a statement.
Claims about the death of senior Taliban leaders, including Mr. Mansour, have been made before but have proven to be wrong in some cases. The Taliban itself has a history of denying such incidents that could hurt the militant group. It kept the death of its previous leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, secret for over two years.
People close to the Taliban said the strike took place as senior commanders were traveling to attend a wedding in a Pakistani village near the border with Afghanistan.
Two charred bodies had been transferred to a nearby hospital, but health officials couldn’t be reached for comment and it was unclear if the bodies had been identified. The Taliban’s chief justice official, Mullah Shaikh Abdul Hakim, could have been among those killed in the strike, they said.
A Pakistani news channel reported that relatives had identified one of the bodies as a driver who worked on the route connecting provincial capital Quetta and the western town of Taftan. The identity of the other passenger wasn’t immediately clear.
Pakistan said it was seeking clarification following the reports of the strike against the Taliban’s leader in its territory.
“I reiterate Pakistan’s principled position that Taliban must give up violence and come to negotiation table,” said foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria. “I also reiterate that military action is not a solution.”
—Habib Khan Totakhil in Kabul, and Qasim Nauman and Saeed Shah in Islamabad contributed to this article.
Write to Jessica Donati at Jessica.Donati@wsj.com and Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com
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