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Top Taliban Commander Killed in Afghanistan
Sunday, May 13, 2007
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's most prominent
military commander, was killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan with
Afghan and NATO troops, FOX News has confirmed.
Dadullah, a top lieutenant of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was killed
Saturday in the southern province of Helmand, said Said Ansari, the
spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence service.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force did not confirm the death.
"It certainly is an issue that we're tracking," said spokesman Maj. John
Thomas. "But it's not our issue, it's an Afghan issue."
But a coalition military source confirmed to FOX News that Dadullah has in
fact been killed. The source expects the Afghan government to make an
official announcement later Sunday.
"There were no tears beind shed" over the commander's death, the source
said.
Dadullah is the highest-ranking Taliban leaders to be killed since the fall
of the hardline regime following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, and his
death would represent a major victory for the Afghan government and U.S. and
NATO troops.
Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid said Dadullah, who had only one leg, died
during an operation by U.S.-led coalition, NATO and Afghan troops.
"Mullah Dadullah was the backbone of the Taliban," Khalid said. "He was a
brutal and cruel commander who killed and beheaded Afghan civilians."
The coalition military force confirmed to FOX News that Dadullah was killed
in an engagement with coalition troops, but it's not known specifically if
U.S. troops were involved. U.S. troops just part of the coalition forces in
the Helmand province.
Khalid showed Dadullah's body to reporters at a news conference in the
governor's compound. An Associated Press reporter said the body, which was
lying on a bed and dressed in a traditional Afghan robe, had no left leg and
three bullet wounds: one to the back of the head and two to the stomach.
The AP reporter said the body appeared to be Dadullah's based on his
appearance in TV interviews and Taliban propaganda videos.
But Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, denied that the
Taliban commander had been killed.
"Mullah Dadullah is alive," Ahmadi told AP by satellite phone. He did not
give further details.
A second intelligence service official said Dadullah was killed near the
Sangin and Nahri Sarraj districts of Helmand province, which have seen heavy
fighting involving British and Afghan troops and U.S. Special Forces. The
official was not authorized to give his name.
In December, a U.S. airstrike near the Pakistan border killed another top
Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani.
Dadullah, Osmani and policy-maker Mullah Obaidullah had been considered to
be Omar's top three leaders.
Dadullah, who comes from the southern province of Uruzgan, lost a leg
fighting against the Soviet army that occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s. He
emerged as a Taliban commander during its fight against the Northern
Alliance in northern Afghanistan during the 1990s, helping the hardline
militia to capture the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Since the Taliban's ouster in late 2001, Dadullah emerged as probably the
militant group's most prominent and feared commander. He often featured in
videos and media interviews, and earlier this year predicted a massive
militant spring offensive that has failed to materialize.
In an interview shown on Al-Jazeera on April 25, Dadullah claimed Al Qaeda
leader Usama bin Laden was behind the February attack outside a U.S.
military base in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney -
although the U.S. military this month claimed a Libyan Al Qaeda operative,
Abu Laith al-Libi, not bin Laden, was behind it.
Dadullah insisted bin Laden was alive and well. "Thank God he is alive. We
get updated information about him. Thank God he planned operations in both
Iraq and Afghanistan," he told Al-Jazeera in excerpts that were translated
into Arabic.
The interview was not the first time in recent months that Dadullah has said
bin Laden is alive. On March 1, London television Channel 4 aired an
interview in which he said the Al Qaeda leader was in contact with Taliban
officers. The station did not say when the tape was made.
Top Taliban Commander Killed in Afghanistan
Sunday, May 13, 2007
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's most prominent
military commander, was killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan with
Afghan and NATO troops, FOX News has confirmed.
Dadullah, a top lieutenant of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was killed
Saturday in the southern province of Helmand, said Said Ansari, the
spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence service.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force did not confirm the death.
"It certainly is an issue that we're tracking," said spokesman Maj. John
Thomas. "But it's not our issue, it's an Afghan issue."
But a coalition military source confirmed to FOX News that Dadullah has in
fact been killed. The source expects the Afghan government to make an
official announcement later Sunday.
"There were no tears beind shed" over the commander's death, the source
said.
Dadullah is the highest-ranking Taliban leaders to be killed since the fall
of the hardline regime following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, and his
death would represent a major victory for the Afghan government and U.S. and
NATO troops.
Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid said Dadullah, who had only one leg, died
during an operation by U.S.-led coalition, NATO and Afghan troops.
"Mullah Dadullah was the backbone of the Taliban," Khalid said. "He was a
brutal and cruel commander who killed and beheaded Afghan civilians."
The coalition military force confirmed to FOX News that Dadullah was killed
in an engagement with coalition troops, but it's not known specifically if
U.S. troops were involved. U.S. troops just part of the coalition forces in
the Helmand province.
Khalid showed Dadullah's body to reporters at a news conference in the
governor's compound. An Associated Press reporter said the body, which was
lying on a bed and dressed in a traditional Afghan robe, had no left leg and
three bullet wounds: one to the back of the head and two to the stomach.
The AP reporter said the body appeared to be Dadullah's based on his
appearance in TV interviews and Taliban propaganda videos.
But Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, denied that the
Taliban commander had been killed.
"Mullah Dadullah is alive," Ahmadi told AP by satellite phone. He did not
give further details.
A second intelligence service official said Dadullah was killed near the
Sangin and Nahri Sarraj districts of Helmand province, which have seen heavy
fighting involving British and Afghan troops and U.S. Special Forces. The
official was not authorized to give his name.
In December, a U.S. airstrike near the Pakistan border killed another top
Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani.
Dadullah, Osmani and policy-maker Mullah Obaidullah had been considered to
be Omar's top three leaders.
Dadullah, who comes from the southern province of Uruzgan, lost a leg
fighting against the Soviet army that occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s. He
emerged as a Taliban commander during its fight against the Northern
Alliance in northern Afghanistan during the 1990s, helping the hardline
militia to capture the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Since the Taliban's ouster in late 2001, Dadullah emerged as probably the
militant group's most prominent and feared commander. He often featured in
videos and media interviews, and earlier this year predicted a massive
militant spring offensive that has failed to materialize.
In an interview shown on Al-Jazeera on April 25, Dadullah claimed Al Qaeda
leader Usama bin Laden was behind the February attack outside a U.S.
military base in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney -
although the U.S. military this month claimed a Libyan Al Qaeda operative,
Abu Laith al-Libi, not bin Laden, was behind it.
Dadullah insisted bin Laden was alive and well. "Thank God he is alive. We
get updated information about him. Thank God he planned operations in both
Iraq and Afghanistan," he told Al-Jazeera in excerpts that were translated
into Arabic.
The interview was not the first time in recent months that Dadullah has said
bin Laden is alive. On March 1, London television Channel 4 aired an
interview in which he said the Al Qaeda leader was in contact with Taliban
officers. The station did not say when the tape was made.
