NCRI – The man killed over the weekend by a U.S. drone attack in Pakistan and believed to be Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had just returned from Iran when his vehicle was struck, Pakistani security officials told AFP on Sunday.
The U.S. late Saturday said Mansour was “likely killed” in the attack in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan. Afghanistan’s spy agency said Sunday that Mansour was dead.
His passport found at the scene showed he had left for Iran on March 28 and returned the day he was killed.
“He was returning from Iran when he was hit by a drone strike near the town of Ahmad Wal,” one security official told AFP.
An immigration official at the border town of Taftan confirmed the man’s travel dates, adding that he was carrying euros when he entered Pakistan which he then converted to Pakistani rupees.
A passport and ID card recovered from the scene gave the man’s name as Muhammad Wali, a resident of Killa Abdullah district of Baluchistan province who was born on January 1, 1972.
The second address listed on his ID card was in Karachi. The photographs on both documents both closely resemble known photographs of Mullah Mansour.
In a statement, Pakistan’s foreign ministry revealed that the slain person was killed within hours of entering Pakistan from Iran.
“His passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa,” the foreign ministry said. “He was traveling on a vehicle hired from a transport company in Taftan.”
The statement said the passport was in the name of “Wali Muhammad S/o [son of] Shah Muhammad.”
Based in part on wire reports
