Replacing Killed Taliban Leader Mansour With Haqqani 'Worst of All'

The replacement of Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, killed by a US drone, with Saranj Haqqani to be “the worst of all,” as Haqqani is the most radical of the figures in the group's leadership.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia fears that the replacement of Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, killed by a US drone, with Saranj Haqqani to be “the worst of all,” Russian Special Presidential Envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said Monday.

“This means the Taliban will select a new leader. The worst of all would for [that leader] to be Saraj Haqqani, who is the most radical of the figures in the leadership,” Kabulov said.

On Sunday, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry confirmed that the country's government had been informed about a US drone strike targeting Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mansour. US officials and the Pentagon said that the strike targeting Mansour’s vehicle killed the Taliban leader near the remote southwestern Pakistani town of Ahmwad Wal along the Afghan border on Saturday.

On Monday, US President Barack Obama confirmed during a press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, that Mansour was taken out in an airstrike two days ago.

"We have removed the leader of an organization that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and Coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like al Qaida," Obama said during his visit to Vietnam.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif slammed the US airstrike against Taliban fighters in the country's western province of Balochistan, local media said Monday.

Kabulov said that Moscow understands Pakistan’s protest of the United States’ actions as this violates the country’s sovereignty.

"[Sharif] is obliged [to react] since the strike was carried out on Pakistani territory. This is a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty," Kabulov added.