Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime minister on national security and foreign affairs, finally confirmed on Thursday the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

Aziz said that Mansour was killed in a US drone strike on May 21 and his body would be handed over to his family after his DNA test. He said Pakistan believed that this action undermined the Afghan peace process.

Briefing the media at the Foreign Office, Aziz said the death of the Afghan Taliban chief added to the complexity of the Afghan conflict. He said the evidence collected from the scene of the US drone strike indicated the person killed in the incident was Mansour who was travelling on fake documents. He said that results of Mansour’s DNA test would be available soon.

The adviser said the drone strike was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty as well as the UN charter governing the conduct of the states. “We have conveyed our serious concern to the US on this issue,” he said. “We believe that this action has undermined the Afghan peace process. On May 18, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US had agreed that politically negotiated settlement was the most viable option and efforts should continue to bring the Taliban on negotiations table. This understanding has not been respected,” he said.

In July 2015, Aziz said, talks were scuttled at an important stage when the issue of reduction in violence was to be discussed. He said, “The peace process has been scuttled twice in less than a year. In our view, there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. The use of force for the last 15 years has failed to deliver peace,” said the adviser.

“We believe this approach will further destabilise Afghanistan, which will have negative implications for the region, especially due to the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan in large numbers,” he added.

Responding to a question, Aziz said the US did not consult or inform Pakistan before carrying out the strike on Mansour. He said the US informed the army chief three-and-a-half-hours after the strike and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seven hours after the incident.

Aziz dispelled the impression that there was a connection between Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav’s arrest and Mansour’s killing near the Iran border. He said there was no need to speculate because Mansour was travelling on fake identity of Wali Muhammad. He said the attack on Mansour was carried out from the Afghan soil.

Aziz said the QCG map for talks and reconciliation was clear and the Taliban had gradually become ready for talks. For Afghanistan, he said, peace through talks was the only option rather than the use of force. He said that Pakistan would continue its efforts for peace in Afghanistan and contact members of the QCG for revival of peace process once again.