Britain claimed to have scored a “significant” success in the fight against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan when it announced that Mullah Mansur, one of the insurgency’s most dangerous figures in Helmand province, had been killed by UK troops.

Unveiling details of an operation carried out on Monday near the Helmand capital of Lashkar Gah, the Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday Mullah Mansur and a number of insurgent leaders had been killed in an operation involving UK Apache helicopters.