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                  US Airstrike Targets Taliban Leader Mansoor

   by VOA News

   An American airstrike targeted Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar
   Mansoor near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, U.S. military
   officials said Saturday.

   One U.S. official cited by Reuters said Mansour and another combatant
   were most likely killed in the drone strike, but Pentagon officials
   said the fate of the leader remained unknown.

   "We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more
   information as it becomes available," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook
   said in a statement.

   The Reuters report said President Barack Obama had authorized the
   strike and that it had taken place on the Pakistani side of the border.

   Soon after reports of the strike began appearing online and in news
   broadcasts in the region, the Afghan Taliban released a statement
   calling the reports of Mansoor's death "baseless."

   VOA's Ayaz Gul contributed to this report from Islamabad.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/united-states-airstrike-targets-talib
   an-leader-mansoor/3340467.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/united-states-airstrike-targets-taliban-leader-mansoor/3340467.html