Senior Al-Qaeda Leader Killed in Kunar Drone Strike
KABUL: (Middle East Press) A senior al-Qaeda commander, Bilal al-Taib, along with his body guards were killed in a drone strike in eastern Kunar province on Friday, officials said.
The attack targeted the commander in Dareen area of Ghazi Abad district, according to Brigadier General Abdul Habib Sayedkhil.
Sayedkhil said Bilal al-Taib was a foreign national but two of his body guards were Afghans.
There were no reports regarding the claim of responsibility behind the drone strike.
However, such strikes usually carry out by US forces in Afghanistan.
The US officials are yet to comment in this regard.
According to other well-known sources, the US drone strikes have killed several other important commanders of al-Qaeda network in Kunar province in the past.
In April 2011, a drone strike killed Abu Hafs Al Najdi, a Saudi citizen who also went by the name Abdul Ghani, then number two on the coalition’s list of Al Qaeda targets.
He was recruiting; training and employing fighters; obtaining weapons and equipment; organizing al-Qaeda finances; and planning attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.
In August 2012, an ISAF airstrike killed Mullah Amir Mohammad alias Malik or Mutaqi who was responsible for passing critical information between al-Qaeda associated Taliban leaders in Kunar.
In December 2012, a drone strike killed an al-Qaeda commander identified as Numan who was the facilitator of movement of weapons and money to the insurgents in Kunar province.
