Non-Subscriber Extract
US-led operation kills senior Taliban commander
15-May-07
| EVENT |
| Mullah Dadullah, one of the Taliban’s most prominent commanders, was killed on 12 May during a US-led operation in southern Afghanistan. |
Dadullah was one of the Taliban’s most senior commanders in Afghanistan and his profile was significantly raised by his use of the media to proliferate his statements. He was a member of the Taliban’s 10-man leadership council, a group thought to be responsible for masterminding the insurgency in Afghanistan. He had also been reported to be commanding militant forces in Helmand province and had also been held responsible for a spate of kidnappings, beheadings and suicide bombings, although it remains unclear exactly what his involvement was. In a statement released on 14 April, a Taliban spokesman confirmed his death, stating: "It is a very big loss because Dadullah was a very important commander and [the] Taliban’s war planner against coalition and Afghan forces."
| FORECAST |
| While Dadullah’s death is likely to be a short-term blow to the insurgency, in the longer term, the problems of the weak Afghan central government and security forces, rampant opium trafficking, the geographical spread of violence and the free flow of militants over the border with Pakistan is likely to mean violence will increase in the country during 2007 even without Mullah Dadullah's presence. |