KABUL, Afghanistan - A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said Saturday.
Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani was killed Tuesday by a U.S. airstrike while traveling by vehicle in a deserted area in the southern province of Helmand, the U.S. military said.
Osmani was the Taliban's chief military commander in southern
Afghanistan and played a "central role in facilitating terrorist operations" including roadside bombs, suicide attacks and kidnappings, the U.S. said.
He was part of a group of "co-equals" at the top of the Taliban leadership chain just under Omar, U.S. military spokesman Col. Tom Collins said.
"This guy had been deeply involved in terrorist acts against the people of Afghanistan, NATO and the government," Collins said. "He was a top commander of Taliban operations in the south and now he's no more."
He won't be down for breakfast. Co-equals, huh? Sounds like they're taking a page out of the Democrat playbook.
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