NATO and Afghan officials on Monday claimed killing Sheikh Dost Mohammed, the most-wanted Taliban commander in Nuristan and Kunar provinces, along with three other militants in a US drone strike.
Sheikh Dost Mohammed has served as the top Taliban leader and shadow governor in Nuristan province for several years, and his insurgent network maintains deep ties with regional Salafist movements and al Qaeda, media reports say. He has been reported killed numerous times since 2009.
The alleged drone strike took place early Saturday morning in the unstable Ghaziabad district in Kunar province. Among others said to be killed in the strike were Taliban operatives Akhtar Mohammad and one of Dost Mohammed’s relatives, Nematullah Haidar.
The International Security Assistant Force (ISAF) issued a brief statement confirming that Afghan and coalition forces killed three insurgents and wounded another during an operation in Ghaziabad district, Kunar province, on March 2. The ISAF statement further added: “The security force positively identified the militants engaging in insurgent activity in an isolated area away from civilians. After ensuring no civilians were in the vicinity, the security force engaged the armed insurgents, killing three and wounding one.”
Since abandoning several outposts in the remote border districts of Nuristan province in October 2009, Afghan and NATO forces have continued operations against an entrenched Taliban network spanning Kunar and Nuristan provinces. Last May, a coalition operation killed Sheikh Jamilur Rahman, the Taliban’s deputy shadow governor for Nuristan province, as he and associate Abdul Hakim were travelling through Nuristan’s Waygal district.