Pakistan confirms Mullah Mansour's death, denies handing over body

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed the killing of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike near the Pak-Afghan border last week, but rejected reports that the Taliban leader’s body had been handed over for burial.

Reports had circulated in the media earlier this week that the Taliban leader's body was taken to Afghanistan and that and he was laid to rest in Spin Boldak district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province.

But, addressing a press conference at the Foreign Office here today, the PM's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz dismissed those reports, saying Mansour's body was yet to be handed over to anyone.

"According to the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mansour was traveling under a fake identity," said Sartaj Aziz. "It has been confirmed that it was Mullah Mansour who was killed in the drone strike. We are still waiting for DNA test results of the body, and the body will not be given to anyone until the DNA results are received."

Aziz further said that Mansour's killing had proven to be a setback for talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, and for peace in the region as a whole.

“Drone strikes have added to the complexity of the Afghan conflict,” he said.

Regarding the drone strike, Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistan had protested over the attack to the US, and that it was also raising the issue in the United Nations.

"Drone attacks are an attack on Pakistan's sovereignty," he said.

The Foreign Affairs Adviser said that Pakistan has been pressing for the Pak-Afghan border in the past as well. "Management of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is crucial," he said.

"We exchanged SOPs on border management with Afghanistan in 2012, and when our government came in 2013 we were in contact on every level. Not only terrorists and criminals, but smugglers also infiltrate through the border. There is also a nexus between smugglers and terrorists, and we have emphasised on this several times,” he said.

He said that the four-nation Quadrilateral Coordination Group had also emphasised on more effective border management.