A US air strike in Afghanistan killed a senior Al-Qaeda commander, the Pentagon said Friday, in the latest blow to the worldwide militant network struggling with the rise of the Islamic State group. The attack, which occurred in Paktika province on July 11, killed Abu Khalil al-Sudani, a "high-ranking Al-Qaeda operational commander", the Pentagon said in a statement released to reporters in Iraq who were travelling with US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
"Al-Sudani was one of three known violent extremists killed in the strike. The death of al-Sudani will further degrade Al-Qaeda operations across the globe," the statement said. The Pentagon described Sudani as a senior member of the group's "shura", or council, and head of Al-Qaeda's suicide and explosive operations, adding he was directly linked to plotting attacks against the United States.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2015

Comments

Comments are closed.