US shifts tactics, takes war on terror to Taliban HQ in Pakistan

A US drone strike killing Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour signaled a major break with precedent as the United States circumvented Pakistan in an effort to disrupt the strengthening insurgency. KABUL: After months of failed Pakistani efforts to broker peace talks with the Taliban , a US drone strike against the leader of the Afghan militants signaled a major break with precedent as the United States circumvented Pakistan in an effort to disrupt the strengthening insurgency, officials said on Sunday.

Airstrike on Taliban leader escalates U.S. involvement in Afghanistan war theater

The U.S. airstrike thought to have killed Taliban chief Akhtar Mohammad Mansour over the weekend represents another escalation in U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan and signals a new willingness to target senior Taliban leaders on Pakistani soil, analysts and officials said Sunday. Although U.S. officials were awaiting final confirmation of Mansour's death, the strike early Saturday marks the most aggressive U.S. military action in Pakistan since the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Afghanistan probes Mansour’s fate after deadly US drone attack

Afghan authorities scrambled Sunday to confirm the fate of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour after US officials said he was likely killed in drone strikes -- a potential blow to the resurgent militant movement. The Taliban have so far not commented on the unprecedented American bombardment on Saturday, authorised by President Barack Obama, in Pakistan's remote southwestern province of Balochistan.

Pentagon: US airstrike targets Taliban leader Mullah Mansour

The U.S. conducted an airstrike Saturday against Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, the Pentagon said, and a U.S. official said Mansour was believed to have been killed. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the attack occurred in a remote region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Afghan official: 6 dead in insider attack in volatile south

A massive space shuttle external propellant tank is squeezing through the streets of Los Angeles to join a display of the retired orbiter Endeavour at the California Science Center. A U.S. Secret Service officer shot a man with a gun who approached a checkpoint outside the White House and refused to drop his weapon, the Secret Service said.

Mansour’s brief reign as chief marked by turmoil

The U.S. conducted an airstrike Saturday, May 21, 2016, against the Taliban leader the Pentagon said, and a U.S. official said Mansour ... . FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2015 file photo, an Afghan man reads a local newspaper with photos of the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mansour, in Kabul, Afghanistan.