Afghan Taliban meet on succession as Obama confirms leader's death
KABUL/HANOI- Senior Afghan Taliban figures were meeting on Monday to agree on a successor to Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the leader of the militant movement who US President Barack Obama confirmed had been killed in an American air strike at the weekend.
The Taliban have so far made no official statement on the fate of Mansour, who assumed the leadership only last year.
But senior members have confirmed that their main shura, or leadership council, has been meeting to discuss the succession in a bid to prevent factional splits from fragmenting the movement.
Obama, on a three-day visit to Vietnam, reiterated support for the Western-backed government in Kabul and Afghan security forces, and called on the Taliban to join stalled peace talks.
