US kills Taliban in strike at rebel commander

KABUL, Feb 12 (Reuters) Several Taliban fighters were killed today in an attack targeting a senior guerrilla leader closely linked to the Islamist movement's fugitive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, the US-led coalition said in a statement.

It did not name the leader, nor say he was caught in the operation by US-led troops.

The militants were killed near the town of Greshk in Helmand province, a Taliban bastion and the main drug producing region of Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of heroin.

NATO, the United States and the Taliban are gearing up for a major spring offensive when the snows melt in a few months after the bloodiest year since the strict Islamists were toppled in 2001. More than 4,000 people died in fighting last year.

REUTERS PDM PM1213