Oz troopers kill Taliban commander

Kabul, Aug.19 : Australian troops have killed a Taliban warlord who waged a campaign of intimidation and violence in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province.

Mullah Akhtar Mohammed and his armed protection party were spotted in a remote area of Oruzgan last week and were killed with an air strike.

The special operations task group (SOTG) patrol kept watch and, after confirming there were no non-combatants in the area, called in the attack jets, defence spokesman Brigadier Brian Dawson said.

News.com .au quoted sources as saying that Akhtar was a senior Taliban extremist commander who controlled a large force of insurgents and directed attacks on government facilities.

Brigadier Dawson said the latest operation was as difficult as the capture of Mullah Bari Ghul.

ANI