Afghan Taliban Meets To Discuss Succession, Leader Suspected Dead In US Drone Strike

A U.S. drone strike targeting the Afghan Taliban's commander, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, led to the leadership council meeting Sunday to discuss succession, two Taliban sources told Reuters. This has been the strongest indication by the group of its acceptance of Mansour's death. Pakistani local residents gather around a destroyed vehicle hit by a drone strike, in which Afghan Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was believed to be travelling, in the remote town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan, around 100 miles west of Quetta, May 21, 2016. President Barack Obama, according to ABC, has released a statement confirming Mansour's death. In the statement, Obama called Mansour's death "an important milestone in our longstanding effort to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan."