President Obama has confirmed a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan killed the leader of the Afghan Taliban. In a statement, Obama called the death of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour “an important milestone.” Speaking earlier today in Hanoi as part of his visit to Vietnam, Obama denied the killing marked a shift in the U.S. role in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama: “This does not represent a shift in our approach. We are not re-entering the day-to-day combat operations that are currently being conducted by Afghan security forces. Our job is to help Afghanistan secure in its own country, not to have our men and women in uniform engage in that fight for them.”