Taliban Leader Killed In Afghan Raid

Taliban Leader Killed In Afghan Raid

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 23, 2009: A senior Taliban leader responsible for roadside bombings and suicide attacks against NATO forces died during an attack on his compound, NATO said Monday. Maulawi Hassan died with nine other militants during a weekend attack in Helmand province, The New York Times reported.

U.S. Marines to the concerns of local opium and wheat farmers during a traditional meeting or "shura" on March 22, 2009 in Qalanderabad, Afghanistan. The Marines asked local residents about Taliban activity in the area, noting a spike in Taliban attacks in nearby districts. The farmers wanted to know about a planned road improvement in their area, which would allow them access to markets to more easily sell their crops, primarily wheat and opium poppy. The Taliban often extorts a percentage of the profits from the farmers' harvest to fund attacks on American forces, according to the military. U.S. Marines, however, have no mandate to destroy poppy crops in Afghanistan. "He became known for his insurgent activities in the autumn of 2008 and was heavily involved in several illegal activities," a NATO statement said. No civilians were killed in the attack, the statement said. Assadullah Shirzad, police chief of Helmand province, said the deaths of Hassan and the other militants were "an important achievement for Afghan and NATO forces in Helmand, and a real blow to Taliban." Meanwhile, a U.S. Special Forces raid in which five people died Sunday has resulted in differing accounts about whether the dead were civilians or militants, the Times reported. The U.S. military said in a statement its troops killed five militants and captured four suspects in a raid in the northern province of Kunduz. Local officials said, however, the dead weren't militants and that the raided house belonged to the town's mayor. Also, a military statement said the operation was coordinated with local Afghan police, but provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Razaq Yaqoubi said no information was given to him, the Kunduz governor or the head of intelligence. A U.S. military spokesman in Washington could not be reached for comment about the conflicting accounts, the Times said.