How US Tracks and Ambushes Taliban Chief

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Adam Entous and Jessica Donati, Trap Laid for Taliban Chief; US tracked movement of Mullah Mansour into Pakistan from Iran before airstrike. Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2016 (front page).
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s- ... e-strike-1464109562

Quote:

"US spy agencies zeroed in on Mullah Akhtar Mansour while he was visiting his family in Iran

"President Barack Obama secretly ordered the strike on Mullah Mansour after first trying to bring him to the negotiating table. * * * U.S. officials said the Pakistanis tried and grew frustrated in February by Mullah Mansour's refusal to send representatives to meet with the Afghan government.

"US intelligence agencies received information that allowed them to track Mullah Mansour's movements, including details about devices he used for communications, US officials said.

"The US knew the route Mullah Mansour took [from Iran via Route N-40] to Quetta[, Pakistan,] because he had taken it several times. * * *

"Armed drones based in Afghanistan and piloted by the US military's Joint Special Operations Command [not CIA] were preparing to move in for the kill, the [US] officials said.   The US knew Pakistani radar could detect the intrusion. Pakistan might then scramble jet fighters to intercept the drones, so timing was critical.  The military’s Reaper drones crossed the border into Pakistani airspace, flying low over the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to exploit gaps in radar coverage, the officials said.

"two Hellfire missiles took out Mullah Mansour, the officials said.  The drones hovered overhead to ensure there were no survivors, then headed back to Afghanistan, the officials said.

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