A US air strike in Afghanistan has reportedly killed a senior Al-Qaeda commander in charge of suicide bombing operations.
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He said in a statement Friday that the airstrike killed Abu Khalil Al-Sudani on July 11.
The strike was in the Bermal district of Paktika province.
Sudani has been described as a senior member of shura council, an advisory that provides guidance and recommendations to al-Qaeda’s leader.
Al-Sudani also directed operations against North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Afghan and Pakistani forces, Mr Carter said, and was close to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. “The death of al-Sudani will further degrade Al-Qaeda operations across the globe”, the statement said. “We will continue to counter violent extremism in the region and around the world, including coalition efforts to deliver a lasting defeat to ISIL”.
The group’s second-in-command Nasir al Wuhayshi died in June and earlier this week, Muhsin al Fadhli, a key al Qaeda target, was also killed in Syria.
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The Obama administration is planning to end its military operations in Afghanisatn by the end of next year, even as Afghan forces grapple with not just Taliban insurgents but, now, militants who have allied themselves with the Islamic State.
