KANDAHAR — A NATO air strike early Wednesday destroyed a compound housing a Taliban leader responsible for a wave of violence across southern Afghanistan, the Western alliance said. NATO said it “believed” it killed a Taliban leader linked to an uprising in the nearby town of Musa Qala, which the Taliban overran on Feb. 1, and to an attack Tuesday against a dam in nearby Kajaki.
“We have removed yet another Taliban enemy leader who will no longer threaten the peace and security of the Afghan people and their future,” said Lt. Col. Angela Billings, a spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The air strike against the compound in a small village a half hour outside Musa Qala killed 20 militants who had sought shelter there the previous night, said Wali Mohammad, a resident of Musa Qala. Neither NATO or Afghan officials could confirm that death toll. |