Top Taliban dead from injuries after US airstrike
Afghan security officials check people and vehicles at a checkpoint in Helmand, Afghanistan, December, 2, 2018.
A senior Taliban military commander has been killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan.
Abdul Manan, who was the Taliban’s “shadow governor” in the southern Helmand province, died of wounds sustained during the airstrike, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the official governor of the province.
Manan’s death was also confirmed by the Taliban who described it as a “big loss” for the group but vowed that it will not affect their military operations.
Manan had led the insurgency group as it expanded control over the opium-rich province in recent years.
Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said Manan was the militants’ top military leader in southern Afghanistan and his death was a major blow to the Taliban.
“His death will lower the morale of the enemy, and result in (the) improvement of security in Helmand and other southern provinces,” Najib Danish said.
Danish said that 32 other Taliban fighters were also killed in the airstrike.
A US force spokesman in Afghanistan confirmed the airstrike had killed the Taliban leader.
“The Taliban should consider intensifying peace talks, not the fight,” said Colonel Dave Butler. “They’re going to have trouble intensifying the fight when their fighters and leaders are under constant assault.”
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad recently expressed hopes that a peace deal to end the war could be struck before the Afghan presidential election, scheduled for April.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said a 12-person negotiating team has been prepared for peace talks.
But the Taliban have rejected Ghani’s overtures, calling the government in Kabul “impotent” and a “waste of time.”
