Senior Taliban commander killed in US drone strike in Afghanistan
Mullah Abdul Manan's death is being seen as a major success by Afghan officials and the US who are pushing for peace talks.
A senior Taliban commander has been killed in Afghanistan by a US drone
strike in what the terror group has described as a "big loss".
Mullah Abdul Manan was killed with 32 others by an airstrike on Saturday
as he met local commanders and fighters in Nawzad district in Helmand
province, provincial governor Mohammad Yasin Khan said.
He was the "shadow governor" of Helmand province - the largest supplier
of Afghanistan's opium crop - for the insurgent group and headed up the
Taliban's southern Afghanistan command.
His death was confirmed by Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid who said it was a "big loss" for the group.
The US military also confirmed his death, adding that Afghan forces had gone on the offensive with US support.
They had used precision airstrikes to push the Taliban to accept engaging in peace talks, he added.
Colonel Dave Butler, spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, said:
"They're going to have trouble intensifying the fight when their
fighters and leaders are under constant assault.
Pictures claiming to be of Manan's body were being circulated on social media
His death is being seen by Afghan officials as a major success because
Manan commanded Taliban fighters while they steadily increased control
over Helmand in the years following the end of most international combat
missions in 2014.
"He was the most senior Taliban commander in the south and his death
will have an overall impact on security," one senior security official
in Kabul said.
Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish, added: "His death will
lower the morale of the enemy, and result in (the) improvement of
security in
Helmand and other southern provinces."
Manan was on a blacklist unveiled in mid-October by the Riyadh-based
Terrorist Financing Targeting Centre, which imposed financial sanctions
on nine individuals, including six Taliban members.
The commander's death comes as the Western-backed security forces and
the Taliban are pushing to gain momentum, with efforts stepped up to
find a peaceful settlement to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan.
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