Akhtar Mansour

Mullah **Akhtar Mohammed Mansoor** (; pronounced  or ; 2 June 1953 – 21 May 2016) was an Afghan politician, soldier, Islamic scholar and a religious leader who was the 2nd Leader of the Taliban from 2015 until his death in 2016. Previously, he was the First Deputy Leader of the Taliban from 2010 to 2015, Second Deputy Leader of the Taliban from 2007 to 2010, and also a Member of the Leadership Council of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2007 and the Civil Aviation Minister of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

Mansour took power over the Taliban after the death of his predecessor, Mullah Omar in 2013. However, Mansour served as acting leader and wasn't officially sworn in on 29 Juky 2015 when they officially admitted Omar's death.

During Mansour's rule, the Taliban expanded greatly in Afghanistan. He also greatly improved ties with al-Qaeda by meeting their leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the successor and close ally of Osama bin Laden.

A United States Department of Defense official has announced that Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Ahmad Wal, Pakistan while driving his car to visit his family get medical treatment for some of his injuries on 21 May 2016, at the age of 62. He was succeeded by his first deputy, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who successfully retook power over Afghanistan following the Fall of Kabul on 15 August 2021.

## Other websites

- T.A.C. – link published November 2009
- P. Tomsen – text published by _PublicAffairs_, November 25, 2013, 912 pages,

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **honorific prefix**: Mullah
- **name**: Akhtar Mansour
- **office**: 2nd Leader of the Taliban
- **term start**: 29 July 2015
- **term end**: 21 May 2016
- **predecessor**: Mullah Omar, Mohammed Omar
- **successor**: Hibatullah Akhundzada
- **office1**: First Deputy Leader of the Taliban
- **term start1**: 24 March 2010
- **term end1**: 29 July 2015
- **predecessor1**: Mohammad Rabbani
- **successor1**: Hibatullah Akhundzada
- **office2**: Second Deputy Leader of the Taliban
- **leader2**: Mohammed Omar
- **term start2**: 2007
- **term end2**: 24 March 2010
- **predecessor2**: Obaidullah Akhund
- **successor2**: Hibatullah Akhundzada
- **office3**: Member of the Leadership Council of Afghanistan
- **term start3**: May 2001
- **term end3**: 2007
- **office4**: Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (Afghanistan), Civil Aviation Minister of Afghanistan
- **term start4**: 27 September 1996
- **term end4**: 13 November 2001
- **birth place**: Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, Kingdom of Afghanistan
- **death place**: Ahmad Wal, Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan, Pakistan
- **death cause**: Drone strike
- **resting place**: Kandahar Province, Afghanistan
- **nationality**: Afghan
- **occupation**: Politician, Soldier, Scholar, Islamic scholar, Religion, Religious Leader
- **blank1**: Religion
- **data1**: Sunni Islam
- **serviceyears**: 1985–2016
- **commands**: Taliban (form 2015)
- **battles**: *Afghan conflict
**Soviet–Afghan War
**Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)
***Battle of Jalalabad (1989)
**Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)
***Battle of Kabul (1992–1996)
**Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)
**War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
***Fall of Kabul (2001)
***United States invasion of Afghanistan
*War on Terrorism