Afghan authorities on Sunday confirmed that the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a US drone strike.

The National Directorate of Security, as the secret service is known, said in a statement that he was killed at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday.

The statement, sent to The Associated Press on Sunday, said the attack took place in Baluchistan province, in southwestern Pakistan.

"The attack happened on the main road while he was in his vehicle", it says. It referred to "others" in the vehicle without further detail.

Earlier, a senior Taliban commander told the AP that Mansour had been killed in the Noshki district, near the Afghanistan Pakistan border.

Afghan authorities on Sunday confirmed that the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a US drone strike.

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