1st LD Writethru: Afghan Taliban top leader Mullah Mansoor reportedly killed in Pakistan

Afghan Taliban top leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was reportedly killed by a U.S. drone strike launched at a small town in Pakistan's southwest province of Balochistan along the Pak-Afghan border, reported local Urdu TV channel ARY on Sunday.

There is no immediate official confirmation of the death of Mullah Mansoor from the Pakistani side.

According to the local media reports, U.S. unmanned aircraft on early Sunday morning fired two missiles at a vehicle which was believed to carry Mullah Mansoor and his colleague in Ahmad Wal, a small town which lies some 150 km southwest of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province.

Mullah Mansoor and his colleague were believed to have been killed in the strike, but the Pentagon said that the U.S. military was still assessing the results of the strike which reportedly took place at about 3 a.m. local time on Sunday.

A foreign TV channel based in the Gulf region said that Taliban had denied the death of Mullah Mansoor.

Born in 1960s, Mullah Mansoor officially became the top Afghan Taliban leader on July 30, 2015, a day after the news about the death of former Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar was disclosed.

The news about the death of Mullah Mansoor came at a time when Afghan Taliban had refused to come back to the negotiation table despite the repeated efforts made by the Pakistani side along with other countries for the peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Endit