Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour and a second man were likely killed in a US military drone strike in Pakistan Saturday.
The Pentagon said that the attack took place “in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.”
Multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations forces targeted the men as they rode in a vehicle in the area southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, officials said.
Born in Afghanistan around 1965, Mansour emerged as the Taliban leader in the middle of last year.
“Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and coalition partners,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.
“Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government,” Cook said.
The man traveling with Mansour was another combatant, officials said.