AP: U.S. airstrike kills top Taliban leader

[Eugene]

U.S. airstrike kills top Taliban leader

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan - A top Taliban military commander described as a close
associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in
an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military
said Saturday.

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani was killed Tuesday by a U.S. airstrike while
traveling by vehicle in a deserted area in the southern province of Helmand,
the U.S. military said.

Osmani was the Taliban's chief military commander in southern Afghanistan
and played a "central role in facilitating terrorist operations" including
roadside bombs, suicide attacks and kidnappings, the U.S. said.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061223/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan

[TheWatcher]

1. ::Yawn::

Oh I'm sorry did the Ministry Of Terrorism say something?

Was this the 5.875,642 #2 they have killed, or is it another #3.

I just seem to lose count these days. :)

[SpiralHawk]

10. "This was the real No. 2 (smirk, smirk, wink, wink) " - Commander AWOL

Smirk

[maddezmom]

2. interesting this guy gets it after the redacted OP in the NYT

~snip~
In December 2001, xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx x Tehran to keep Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the brutal pro-Al Qaeda warlord, from returning to Afghanistan to lead jihadist resistance there. xxxxx xxxxxxx so long as the Bush administration did not criticize it for harboring terrorists. But, in his January 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush did just that in labeling Iran part of the “axis of evil.” Unsurprisingly, Mr. Hekmatyar managed to leave Iran in short order after the speech. xxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxx the Islamic Republic could not be seen to be harboring terrorists.


If you're curious about all those Xs, they represent the black bars covering portions of the op-ed redacted by the White House. According to Leverett, this op-ed is "based on (a) longer paper...just published with the Century Foundation--which was cleared by the CIA without modifying a single word of the draft." The White House, Leverett says, demanded that he and Mann redact several sections of the piece, including at least one whole paragraph, claiming that they deal with classified information.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x252716

[dipsydoodle]

3. According to CCN International,

on TV, he was "an associate of Bin Laden - possibly one of four."

I guess the other three had been held up in Denver at the end of their skiing holiday.

[saigon68]

4. No the Big Guy and his posse are in Miami Beach

Ogling over weight girls in 2 piece bikinis

[dipsydoodle]

7. I've got a pal in NC

he calls those bikinis etc "muffin tops" :rofl:

[rodeodance]

5. . "But he'll never do that again because he's dead now."

U.S.: Top bin Laden associate killed
POSTED: 7:50 a.m. EST, December 23, 2006
.................

"We've been tracking him for some time and following his location," Collins said.

Osmani was accidentally released during the summer of 2002 due to faulty intelligence after military forces arrested him in Kandahar. Once released he quickly fled to Pakistan.

"That was a mistake and Osmani did escape back into the populace," Collins said. "But he'll never do that again because he's dead now."

[maddezmom]

6. article has been updated to include denial from Taliban spokesman

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, denied that Osmani had been killed, saying that the airstrike instead killed Mullah Abdul Zahir, a group commander, and three other Taliban fighters.

"I confirm that Osmani is alive and is in Afghanistan," Ahmadi told The Associated Press by phone from an undisclosed location.

U.S. military spokesman Col. Tom Collins said that officials waited four days to announce the news in part so that they could be sure it was Osmani who died in the strike.


and a snip from AFP:


A Taliban spokesman, however, denied Osmani had been killed, saying the airstrike claimed a low-ranking commander and three other militants.

"Mullah Akhtar Osmani is alive and inside Afghanistan," spokesman Mohammad Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"(Instead) Three days ago in a NATO operation surrounding Helmand province, a Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Zahir and three other Taliban were martyred." he said.

One Afghan intelligence source said Osmani was commander of Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan which was borne the brunt of much of the violence.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said he was part of a 12-member Taliban leadership council and ranked fourth in its ranks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061223/wl_asia_afp/afghanistanunresttaliban_061223122503

[dipsydoodle]

8. CNN Int.

have now mentioned that too.

[Eurobabe]

9. Hey douche bags, WHERE'S OSAMA??

Oh, I forgot, you are saving his capture for November 3, 2008.

[CatholicEdHead]

11. U.S. strike kills Afghan Taliban leader

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer 36 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan - A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of
Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said Saturday. A Taliban spokesman denied the claim.
ADVERTISEMENT

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani was killed Tuesday by a U.S. airstrike while traveling by vehicle in a deserted area in the southern province of Helmand, the U.S. military said. Two associates also were killed, it said.

There was no immediate confirmation from Afghan officials or visual proof offered to support the claim. A U.S. spokesman said "various sources" were used to confirm Osmani's identity.

Osmani, regarded as one of three top associates of Omar, is the highest-ranking Taliban leader the coalition has claimed to have killed or captured since U.S. forces invaded
Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime in late 2001 for hosting bin Laden.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061223/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan

[against all enemies]

12. Next headline -"Barn door closed, horse seen leaving the scene"