Obama Confirms Leader Dead As Taliban Meet On His Successor

U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed on Monday that the leader of the Afghan Taliban had been killed in an American air strike, an attack likely to trigger another leadership tussle in a militant movement already riven by internal divisions.

Obama, who started a three-day visit to Vietnam on Monday, reiterated support for the government in Kabul and Afghan security forces, and called on the Taliban to join peace talks.

The president authorized the drone strike that killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a remote region just within the Pakistan side of the border with Afghanistan on Saturday, and Afghan authorities have said the mission was successful.

But U.S. officials had held back from confirming that the Taliban leader had been killed in the attack until intelligence had been fully assessed.

Obama said in a statement that Mansour had rejected peace talks and had "continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and Coalition forces"