US airstrike targets Taliban leader Mullah Mansour

The US conducted an airstrike against Taliban's new leader Mullah Mansour in a remote area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

Washington: The US conducted an airstrike against Taliban's new leader Mullah Mansour in a remote area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the Pentagon said today.

The fate of Mullah Mansour, who assumed the leadership of the Taliban after the death of Mullah Omar, is not yet known.

The Pentagon said it is still assessing the result of the strike.

"Today, the Department of Defense conducted an airstrike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said.

"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," he said.

"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 said.

"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 US and Coalition personnel," he said.

"We are still assessing the results of the strike," Cook said.