Victims of US drone attack targeting Mansour had been in Iran: Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A passport found at the site of a US drone attack targeting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour bears the name of a Pakistani man named Wali Muhammad, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

The purported passport holder was believed to have returned to Pakistan from Iran on May 21, the day of the drone strike targeting Mansour.

One of the charred bodies has been identified as a local taxi driver but the badly burnt second body has not.

Photos of Muhammad´s passport seen by Reuters show a passing resemblance to some of the old photos available of Mansour, though the ministry did not directly comment on the possibility that Mansour had been travelling under another name.

"(Muhammad´s) passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding 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.

Earlier, the Pakistani foreign office had said it was "seeking clarification" about a US drone strike against Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, after US officials said Mansour was likely killed in an air strike.

"I have seen the reports. We are seeking clarification," Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in a statement. He added that Pakistan wanted the Afghan Taliban to return to the negotiating table to end the long war in Afghanistan.

"Military action is not a solution," he added.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was notified of the air strike which took place a day earlier, but declined to elaborate on the timing of the notification.