NATO says may have killed senior Taliban leader

KABUL, Jan 26 (Reuters) A senior Taliban leader may have been killed along with his deputies by a NATO air strike in Afghanistan, the alliance said.

The incident happened yesterday in an area of southern Helmand province, part of the main bastion of the resurgent Taliban, NATO said in a statement late yesterday.

''The precision-guided munitions impacted on target, completely destroying the compound ...,'' the statement said.

''A senior Taliban leader and his deputies are believed to have been killed in this strike,'' it added.

NATO did not identify the men, and Taliban members could not be reached immediately for comment.

Helmand lies on the border with Pakistan and is also the major drug producing region of Afghanistan, the world's leading producer of heroin.

Last month, an air strike by US-led forces killed a senior Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Osmani, in the province.

Osmani was close to Taliban's fugitive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and also reportedly to al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

His killing was the first of a senior Taliban leader since US-led troops invaded Afghanistan and ousted the movement from power after its leadership refused to hand over bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Last year was the bloodiest period since the Taliban's fall in Afghanistan, with 4,000 people -- including nearly 170 foreign troops -- were killed.

In the face of attacks by resurgent Taliban and other Islamic militants, the US government says it plans to send more troops and garner more aid to tackle the insurgents in the central Asian country.

REUTERS PDM KP1056