Is this a different guy than Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Osmani, who was killed a year or so ago?AUSTRALIAN special forces soldiers have killed a senior Taliban commander responsible for co-ordinating attacks on government facilities in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province.
Australian troops spotted Mullah Akhtar Mohammed and his armed protection party in a remote area of Oruzgan last week, Defence said today. The special operations task group (SOTG) patrol kept watch and, after confirming there were no non-combatants in the area, called in an airstrike, defence spokesman Brigadier Brian Dawson said.
"Australian Special Forces observed the airstrike which struck the Taliban extremist group, killing Mullah Akhtar Mohammed," he said.
Mullah Akhtar Mohammed was a senior Taliban extremist commander within Oruzgan province who controlled a large force of insurgents and directed a strong campaign of intimidation and violence.
Earlier this month, another taskforce operation resulted in the capture of Taliban leader Mullah Bari Ghul, described as a key figure in providing equipment, money and foreign fighters to extremist operations in Oruzgan.
Brig. Dawson said the latest operation, in many respects, was as difficult as the capture of Mullah Bari Ghul. "It occurred in broad daylight, making concealment of the patrol difficult, it was in an extremely remote area of the province, and Mullah Akhtar Mohammed was difficult to pinpoint as he travelled within a very small group.
"Importantly, the SOTG located him, positively identified him and when it was confirmed that there were no non-combatant Afghans nearby, accurately targeted him for the successful ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) airstrike."