Afghan and NATO-led troops killed a Taliban senior leader and detained a mid-level leader during overnight operation in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the military alliance said Sunday.

"An Afghan and coalition security force killed Ajmal Agha Jan, a Taliban senior leader highly skilled in the construction of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and responsible for emplacement of IEDs throughout Helmand province during an overnight operation in the province," the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a press release issued here.

It further said during the body search, Agha Jan threatened the security force with pistol and the joint forces engaged eventually killing him.

"The security forces also captured a Taliban mid-level leader who participated and directed attacks in the Sistani area of Marjah district," the press release further said.

No women and children were injured during the raid, it asserted.

Taliban militants have yet to make comments.

Previously, ISAF said in another press release that Afghan and coalition forces killed Mullah Jamaluddin on Saturday, reportedly one of the possible candidates to become the new shadow governor for Badghis province after the former, Mullah Ismail, was killed on Wednesday in the northwest Badghis province.

The recent casualties on Taliban militants, according to military officials, is another setback for the hard-die Taliban as over 100 Taliban leaders including shadowy governors and sub- commanders of the outfit have been killed or detained by ISAF and Afghan army troops over the past one month.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments