Obama confirms death of Taliban leader Mansoor

US President Barack Obama reviews the guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, May 23, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama confirmed on Monday that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was killed in a US airstrike.

"We have removed the leader of an organization that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like al-Qaida," said Obama in a statement.

Obama said that as the Taliban leader, Mansoor rejected efforts made by the Afghan government "to seriously engage in peace talks and end the violence that has taken the lives of countless innocent Afghan men, women and children".

The airstrike against Mansoor was launched on Saturday in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, according to a Pentagon statement.

Mansoor had been an aide to Taliban's iconic longtime leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and a Taliban transportation minister.

He emerged as the Taliban leader in 2015 after the news broke that Omar had died in 2013.