- Title: Afghan Taliban leader likely killed in U.S. drone strike
- Date: 22nd May 2016
- Summary: QUETTA, PAKISTAN (MAY 22, 2016) (REUTERS) MOHAMMAD QASIM, BROTHER OF CAR DRIVER MOHAMAD AZAM WHO WAS KILLED IN INCIDENT, SITTING IN LOBBY OF HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF MEDICAL STAFF STANDING BESIDE BODIES UNDER SHEETS MEN STANDING BESIDE BODY OF AZAM IN CASKET AND SECOND UNIDENTIFIED BODY COVERED IN SHEET VARIOUS OF BODY OF CASKET BEING PLACED INSIDE AMBULANCE BROTHER OF AZAM (WEARING BLACK CAP) WATCHING ON VARIOUS OF AMBULANCE LEAVING (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) BROTHER OF DRIVER MOHAMMAD AZAM, WHO WAS KILLED IN CAR, MOHAMMAD QASIM, SAYING: [Reporter asking: How did you come to know about the incident?] "The office people called me, and told me the car had been burnt on the way." [Reporter asking: How long had he been driving the taxi?] "Around eight or nine years. He picked up the passenger from Taftan." QASIM WALKING DOWN THE STAIRS
- Embargoed: 6th June 2016 17:38
- Keywords: Pakistan Taliban drone strike US Afghanistan
- Location: UNKNOWN LOCATION , PAKISTAN-AGHANISTAN BORDER / QUETTA, PAKISTAN
- City: UNKNOWN LOCATION , PAKISTAN-AGHANISTAN BORDER / QUETTA, PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0024IW3DQF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Video and still photographs of a burning car and charred bodies in Pakistan were linked by local media on Sunday (May 22) to the news that the U.S. had targeted and likely killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a drone strike, although Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said only one of the fatalities in the incident, a local taxi driver, had been identified.
Afghanistan on Sunday said the United States killed the leader of the Afghan Taliban in an air strike in a remote border area just inside Pakistan, in an attack likely to dash any immediate prospect for peace talks.
The death of Mansour could trigger a succession battle and deepen fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was confirmed in 2015, more than two years after it occurred.
Saturday's strike, which U.S. officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama and included multiple drones, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said a passport found at the site of the attack just inside Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan, bears the name of a Pakistani man named Wali Muhammad.
The purported passport holder was believed to have returned to Pakistan from Iran on May 21, the day of the drone strike targeting Mansour.
According to reports, confirmed by the foreign ministry statement, the driver's name was Muhammad Azam, whose body has been identified and collected by his relatives.
Azam's brother, Mohammad Qasim, said he had been informed about the incident by the office of the cab service.
"The office people called me, and told me the car has been burnt on the way," Qasim said. He said his brother had been driving a cab for eight or nine years, and had picked up the passenger from Taftan, a town on the Iran border.
The second, badly-charred body was taken to the military hospital in Quetta, where officials said the identity is being verified on the basis of evidence found at the site of the incident and other relevant information.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had not been told about the drone strike in advance by Washington. The ministry spokesman called the attack a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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