Afghan, Coalition Forces Kill Taliban Commander
By VOA News
16 February 2009
Afghan and coalition military forces said a precision airstrike has killed a key Taliban commander in western Afghanistan, near the Turkmenistan border.
A joint military statement Monday said the airstrike in Darya-ye-Morghab in Badghis province late Sunday killed Taliban regional commander Ghulam Dastagir and eight of his associates, when it destroyed the building where they had gathered.
Afghan and coalition officials blame Dastagir for an increase in attacks on Afghan and foreign forces in Badghis over recent months. Local officials said he had been captured but was released from detention several months ago by presidential order.
Elsewhere, officials said a series of militant attacks in the country killed at least eight civilians and a NATO soldier.
In the east of the country, the interior ministry Monday said three civilians were killed when a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle in Kunar province.
Police said another roadside bomb attack killed five civilians in southern Afghanistan, in Uruzgan province.
Also in eastern Afghanistan, NATO said one of its soldiers was killed in an indirect fire attack in eastern Afghanistan. A statement from the alliance did not give the soldier's nationality or any more details.
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