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.

References

Other websites
 T.A.C. – link published November 2009
 P. Tomsen – text published by PublicAffairs, November 25, 2013, 912 pages, 

Category:1960s births
Category:2016 deaths
Category:Heads of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Category:Taliban
Category:Muslim scholars
Category:21st-century Afghan people