27 Dec 2024
Thursday 26 May 2016 - 15:23
Story Code : 215670

Pakistan confirms death of Afghan Taliban leader

Islamabad, May 26, IRNA -- Adviser to Pakistan PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said: All indicators confirm that the person killed in the US drone strike was Mullah Akhter Mansour.

During a press conference on Thursday, he further added that the DNA test result will be available shortly.

The death of Mullah Akhter Mansour in a drone strike on 21 May has added to the complexity of the Afghan conflict, he said.

As already stated, the US drone attack was a violation of Pakistans sovereignty as well as breach of the principles of the United Nations Charter governing the conduct of the states. We have conveyed our serious concern to the United States on this issue. We believe that this action has undermined the Afghan peace process.

Sartaj Aziz said: On 18 May, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and China had agreed that politically negotiated settlement was the most viable option rather than Efforts should continue to bring Taliban on the table. This understanding has not been respected.

In our view there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. The use of force for past 15 years has failed to deliver peace. We believe this approach will further destabilize Afghanistan, which will have negative implications for the region, especially due to the presence of large number of terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

The official reiterated that Pakistan believes politically negotiated settlement remains the most viable option for bringing lasting peace to Afghanistan. The military approach has been tried for 15 years and could not achieve the objective.

By IRNA
https://theiranproject.com/vdca0mnuw49n6i1.tgk4.html
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