Mansour ‘stood in way of talks’ with Afghan gov’t: NATO

NATO says that Mullah Akhtar Mansour had stood in the way of talks between the Afghan government and Taliban, the insurgent group he was leading after the dead of their supreme leader, in Afghanistan.

“Mullah Mansur stood in the way of talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, blocking the prospects for progress towards peace and reconciliation for Afghanistan,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says in a written statement released on May 23.

The statement added that under Mansour’s leadership, the Taliban have continued to conduct brutal attacks across the country, leading to the death and suffering of “countless Afghan civilians and security forces” and posing a major daily threat to the forces of the US and NATO allies and partners.

Afghanistan and US have confirmed that the leader of Taliban had been killed in an operation by US forces in Pakistan along the border of Afghanistan.

According to the statement NATO will remain fully committed to its training, advising and assisting mission of the Afghan security forces to make sure that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorism.

At the end NATO says the death of Taliban leader as an opportunity “for Afghans to talk to Afghans” to reach to a an Afghan-led peace and reconciliation and develop their country in peace and security.