ISLAMABAD, 26 MAY (DNA) – Pakistan said on Thursday that the death of the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Akhter Mansour, in a drone strike on May 21 has added to the “complexity of the Afghan conflict.”

An America spy aircraft rained missiles on a vehicle of Mansour in Balochistan province along its border with Iran. “We believe that this action has undermined the Afghan peace process,” Foreign Affairs Adviser, Sartaj Aziz told a news conference in Islamabad, days after Pakistan summoned the U.S. ambassador to convey its serious concerns at the drone strike.

He confirmed the man killed in the U.S. attack was the Taliban leader and saidthat all indicators confirm that the person killed in the drone strike was Mullah Akhtar Mansour who was travelling on a fake identity.

The Pakistani adviser recalled that on 18 May, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and China had agreed that politically negotiated settlement was the most viable option rather than Efforts should continue to bring Taliban on the table.

“This understanding has not been respected,” Mr Aziz said and recalled that earlier in July 2015, direct peace talks between the representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban were scuttled at a key stage when the issue of reduction in violence was to be discussed.

Pakistan had brokered the first ever Afghan peace talks in the scenic town of Murree near Islamabad in early July last year but the second round was cancelled after the Afghan gov’t revealed the death of the Taliban chief, Mullah Omar.

“In less than a year, peace process has been scuttled twice,” the Pakistani adviser said, adding that Pakistan believes there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. Mr Aziz disagreed with the approach to pursue military solution to the Afghan problem and said the use of force for past 15 years has failed to deliver peace.

“We believe this approach will further destabilize Afghanistan, which will have negative implications for the region, especially due to the presence of large number of terrorist groups in Afghanistan,” he argued. Mr Aziz went on to say that Pakistan believes that politically negotiated settlement remains the most viable option for bringing lasting peace to Afghanistan.

 The military approach has been tried for 15 years and could not achieve the objective. He said Pakistan will continue to pursue the objective in close consultation with Afghanistan Government and other members of the QCG. DNA