The NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan said Thursday it had killed a Taliban commander who was the target of an operation in which 30 US troops died when their helicopter crashed last month.
Qari Tahir was killed by an air strike Tuesday in Wardak province, central Afghanistan, the military said.
The US said last month it had killed those behind the helicopter’s downing, but a senior Afghan government official told AFP that it was Tahir who had lured US forces to the scene by tipping them off about a Taliban meeting.
“A precision air strike killed Taliban leader Qari Tahir after the security force located Tahir and an associate in a dry riverbed in Sayd Abad district,” the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.
“Tahir was the Taliban’s top leader in Tangi Valley and was the target of a previous combined operation on Aug. 5, 2011, that resulted in the loss of the CH-47 Chinook last month.
“He led a group of insurgent fighters throughout the valley and was known to use roadside bombs and rockets to intimidate the local populace.”
The US helicopter crash last month killed 38 people including 30 US troops, 25 of whom were special forces.
It was the biggest single loss of life for international forces since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Taliban ten years ago.
The Afghan official, speaking anonymously to AFP, said the helicopter was shot down and Tahir had set a trap to lure it to the scene.
