ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday slammed the US government for carrying out air strike inside Pakistani territory saying it was “totally illegal, not acceptable and against the sovereignty and integrity of the country”, he also accused Washington of “sabotaging the peace talks with Afghan Taliban”.

"The US government said Mullah Mansour was targeted because he was against the peace process." Did they forget that when Afghan Taliban and Afghan government met for talks in Murree, it was Mullah Mansour who was leading the group, said Nisar.

Nisar criticised the US government, saying the air strike was “totally illegal, not acceptable and against the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan”. It is also against the UN Charter and the international law, he added.

Key points of Chaudhry Nisar’s press conference



• Pakistan cannot confirm Mansour's death without proper scientific/forensic evidence



• Mullah Mansour travelled to many countries, if he was a threat why was he targeted only when in Pakistan?



• The said US approach of killing its enemies “wherever they are” can prove disastrous if other countries start following it too



• US air strike in Balochistan was totally illegal, not acceptable and against the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan



• The drone did not enter Pakistani territory but fired missile while flying from a neighbouring country

The Murree dialogue was also ruined by the news of Mullah Omer's death and now that we were seeing some hope this incident occurred, “sabotaging the dialogue process”, the minister maintained.

"You cannot expect them to come on talks' table after killing their leader, this killing has put Pakistan in a very difficult situation."

The interior minister asked the US military and civil authorities to come clean about their policies regarding the region. “You can’t initiate peace talks and hope for its success, when on the other side you are following the policy of aggression,” he said.

"Allied forces have failed to eliminate Afghan Taliban despite spending billions of dollars and deploying millions of their men."

US government tried to justify their illegal act by saying “they will hit its enemies wherever they are but we have a problem with this logic, because if every country starts working on this approach then the world will turn into a battle zone”, the federal minister asserted.

Nisar reminded the world that a peaceful Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interest and it has done everything to bring peace and stability in the neighbouring country.

Govt can't confirm Mullah Mansour was killed in Balochistan

Nisar said that the government cannot confirm yet that the person killed in the incident in Balochistan was Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mansour.

“Our law enforcement and intelligence agencies are still investigating the incident, but so far they have not been able to confirm the identity,” he said while addressing a press conference in the federal capital.

"The deceased driver of the charred vehicle was identified and the body was handed over to his heirs," he said.

The government is unable to confirm that the second person killed in the attack was Mullah Mansour because "he is an Afghan national and the Pakistan government has no means to identify Afghan citizens", said Nisar.

The interior minister said that an individual approached the government on Tuesday to claim the body of the second deceased person saying "he is a relative of Mullah Mansour".

"We will perform the DNA test of that person and if it matches with that of the deceased body, only then we will be in a position to confirm that it was Mullah Mansour who was killed in the incident."

The United States government claimed that they targeted Taliban chief Mullah Mansour in an air strike inside Pakistani territory.