US blames UK for masquerading Taliban leader fiasco

LONDON - U.S. officials have blamed Britain for an embarrassing fiasco in which an impostor met Afghan and NATO officials before it was discovered he was not the Taliban leader they thought he was.

According to sources familiar with the incident, the man, understood to be a shopkeeper from Quetta, was masquerading as Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the second highest-ranking official in the Taliban.

According to The Guardian, he attended three meetings in Kabul.

The New York Times reported that people familiar with the incident, had said: “the British spent a year developing the fake Taliban leader as a source”.

It said NATO commander General David Petraeus reportedly was “buying into it”.

Officials who insisted on remaining anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter confirmed that Britain was being held responsible for the episode.

There was said to be “some truth” in the US reports. (ANI)