No confirmation of Afghan Taliban leader’s death: PM Nawaz

LONDON: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday said that reports are still not confirmed that Taliban leader Mullah Mansour has been killed in a US drone strike.

Speaking to media representatives after arriving here, the prime minister however confirmed that he had received a phone call from United States Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday night at 10:30PM.

Kerry had informed him about the drone attack, he added, but maintained that he was informed about the strike after it had been conducted.

“Afterwards, I spoke with the army chief as well,” he said.

Prime Minister Nawaz also said that the foreign office’s statement was a protest against the drone attack.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry has said that 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 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.

'I visit different places for development projects' 

In response to a question whether his recent speeches and rallies were in preparation for an upcoming election, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during today's media talk dismissed the notion, saying: “I go to different places in the country for development projects.

“I recently went to Swat and was delighted to see people welcome us with passion. Those who are in government in that province should realize about the problems of the poor,” he said.

The premier also lashed out at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan indirectly when he said that those who were raising such a hue and cry regarding offshore companies, have been exposed in front of the whole world.

“I believe one should take into account their own actions before they start pointing fingers at others,” the prime minister commented.

Nawaz Sharif also said that he had spoken at length about the Panama Papers issue and had also given a detailed explanation about his family’s wealth in the National Assembly.