US drone strike kills Taliban commander in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan

A U.S. drone strike Tuesday killed a senior commander of foreign Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, local officials said.

The commander, known as Zarqawi, was killed alongside his bodyguard in Ghazni Abad, Kunar province.

“The American’s unmanned plane targeted the hideout of Zarqawi in Sawki Dara locality on early Tuesday morning. Reportedly, he died on the spot,” provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Habib Saedkhil said.

There were no reports of civilian causalities.

Separately, Afghan security forces repelled a large-scale Taliban attack on army posts in Kunar’s Narai district on the Pakistan border.

According to an army spokesman, around 400 Taliban launched attacks at 5.00 a.m. local time (00:30GMT). Nearly 50 militants were killed or wounded.