The U.S. has attempted a “decapitation” attack against the Taliban’s top leader, Mullah Mansur, who assumed leadership of the group in Afghanistan after the death of Mullah Omar.
A Pentagon statement says the strikes targeted Mansur, and that results are still being assessed.
But privately, Pentagon officials tell the Washington Examiner they believe the Taliban leader was “likely” killed in the strike conducted by several drones operated by U.S. special operations forces. Sources says Mansur was in a vehicle with a second man, who is also believed to have been killed in the attack, which occurred at 6:00 a.m. EDT.
The attack was conducted “in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region,” according to the Pentagon statement, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal.
The statement said Mansur has been “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.”
That language, labeling him a threat to U.S. forces, would seem to offer a justification for U.S. to conduct airstrikes under the “self-defense” authorities of the Operation Inherent Resolve “advise and assist” mission.
The Pentagon has said repeatedly that it is not at war with the Taliban and therefore lacked authority to conduct offensive operations against them, but a Pentagon official says President Obama personally authorized the strike.
The statement also said that under Mansur’s 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.”
It called Mansur “an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban,” because he allegedly prohibited Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict.
