One of the Taliban’s most senior commanders has been killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan.
Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund was the Taliban’s “governor” and military chief for the southern Helmand province.
He was killed in the Nawzad district of Helmand on Saturday night, provincial officials said.
The Taliban said his death was a “major loss” but it would not deter them in their efforts to take back control of Afghanistan.
But Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told the AFP news agency his death was a major blow to the Taliban and would “lower the moral” of its fighters in southern Afghanistan.
What’s life like under the Taliban?
Militants ‘threaten 70% of Afghanistan’
Who are the Taliban?
Helmand is where British troops were based for eight years before ground troops were withdrawn in 2014. Large parts of the province are now back under Taliban control.
