A U.S. airstrike killed the top Taliban official in the northeastern Afghanistan province of Kunar and two of the group’s commanders, an Afghan intelligence official said.
Twelve other militants were also killed in the raid late Saturday near the Pakistan border, Abdul Hasib Sidiqqi, the agency’s spokesman, said by phone Sunday. The Taliban had no immediate comment.
The Afghan intelligence agency tipped off the Americans to the whereabouts of Omar Zadran and his companions, and they killed him in a strike, Sidiqqi said.
The killings could deal “a big blow” to the Taliban, Ahmad Saeedi, an independent analyst on security and politics in Kabul, said by phone.