WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Eight individuals including a Taliban commander were killed by US precision airstrikes in Afghanistan, according to Pentagon’s statement.
"Yesterday, U.S. forces in Afghanistan conducted a precision strike in Helmand province, resulting in the death of eight individuals, to include Abdul Rauf Khadim, a former Taliban commander," Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Adm. John Kirby was quoted as saying in the statement.
According to various media outlets Khadim was a former Guantanamo Bay detention facility detainee who became a Taliban commander after his release in 2007 later joining the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist group.
"These are both reminders that we're going to continue to use all the tools at our disposal financial, diplomatic, certainly military to dismantle al-Shabaab and other groups [and] networks that threaten U.S. interests as well as the interests of our allies and partner nations,” Kirby said on Tuesday.
The news of Khadim’s death follows the US and Coalition Joint Task Force aircraft conducting 12 airstrikes against ISIL in Syria and Iraq on Monday the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a statement following the attack.
The ISIL is fighting in Syria and Iraq where the group has captured large swathes of territory and declared a caliphate. A coalition of more than 60 countries led by the United States has been carrying out airstrikes against the ISIL in an attempt to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the terrorist group.
