The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Wednesday the body of one of those killed last week during 'precision air strikes' in southern Helmand province had been identified as a Taliban commander named Mullah Jamaluddin.
The attack took place in the Nowa Kalay area of Garmsir district soon after the alliance started its biggest-ever Operation Achilles in Helmand province, the ISAF said in a statement.
Jamaluddin was a joint deputy commander of Taliban forces in Garmsir district, the statement said, adding 'Jamaluddin was a violent Taliban extremist commander responsible for regular attacks in Garmsir.'
Some 5,500 Afghan and ISAF troops, a majority of them British soldiers, started Operation Achilles last week in Helmand province, with the aim of cracking down on Taliban militants in the province and creating secure conditions to facilitate reconstruction and development. |