{"id":24464,"date":"2017-12-05T17:51:15","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T17:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/12\/05\/us-and-afghan-forces-kill-senior-taliban-and-al-qaida-commanders\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:20:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:20:40","slug":"us-and-afghan-forces-kill-senior-taliban-and-al-qaida-commanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/12\/05\/us-and-afghan-forces-kill-senior-taliban-and-al-qaida-commanders\/","title":{"rendered":"US and Afghan forces kill senior Taliban and al-Qaida commanders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. and Afghan forces have killed several senior level al-Qaida and Taliban leaders over the past several days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Qaida leader Omar Khetab, a senior leader of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, was confirmed dead Dec. 4 by Afghan forces. Khetab was known to carry out attacks against government and foreign troops and \u201chad a role in advising in the use of heavy weapons such as rockets, mortars and training for Taliban night attacks,\u201d according to a press release from U.S. Forces-Afghanistan reads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other al-Qaida leaders were killed in operations spread across Ghazni, Paktia and Zabul provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A senior Taliban leader, Mullah Shah Wali, aka Haji Nasir, commander of the militant group\u2019s infamous \u201cRed Unit,\u201d was also killed in a strike Dec. 1 in Musa Qalah district of Helmand province, Afghanistan. Wali\u2019s deputy commander and three other militants were also killed in the strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dvidshub.net\/video\/embed\/570380\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWali and his \u2018Red Unit\u2018 are responsible for planning numerous suicide bombings, IED attacks, and coordinated assaults against civilians and Afghan and coalition forces,\u201d according to the press release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u201cRed Unit\u201d is considered to be the Taliban\u2019s special forces unit. The group has been pictured in several Taliban propaganda videos this year brandishing U.S. rifles, machine guns, and sophisticated weapons optics. The group is believed to be able to carry out night attacks with the aid of night vision devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The unit was responsible for a series of daring nighttime raids in mid-November against Afghan checkpoints and police stations. Riding into battle in stolen police Ford Ranger trucks and wearing night vision devices with mounted rifle lasers and telescopic night vision optics, the group managed to kill dozens of Afghan security forces, according to a report by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/11\/14\/world\/asia\/afghanistan-taliban-attack-police.html?mtrref=www.google.com\" title=\"\">New York Times<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/09\/01\/taliban-mimic-american-commandos-in-latest-propaganda-video\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"148\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TalibanNew5.png.png?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Taliban mimic American commandos in latest propaganda video<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A recent Taliban propaganda video uploaded to the group\u2019s official media site appears to show Taliban fighters mimicking the style and tactics of American commandos.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMullah Shah Wali\u2019s death will disrupt the Taliban network, degrade their narcotics trafficking, and hinder their ability to conduct attacks against Afghan forces,\u201d said Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. \u201cUSFOR-A and our Afghan partners will continue to aggressively target Taliban leaders to destroy their drug network, disrupt their communications and deny them safe haven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The deaths of the terrorist leaders come at a time when the U.S. is ramping up strikes in Helmand valley against Taliban narcotics supplies, part of its new South Asia strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/11\/20\/f-22s-conduct-first-airstrikes-in-afghanistan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3967015.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">F-22s conduct first airstrikes in Afghanistan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The airstrikes were first use of expanded authorities in Afghanistan, top U.S. general says.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese two operations together would never have been possible without the close cooperation between Afghan forces and USFOR-A, and they are proof our strategy is working,\u201d Nicholson said in a press release. \u201cThe entire international community agrees Afghanistan deserves security and lasting peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. and Afghan forces have killed several senior level al-Qaida and Taliban leaders over the past several days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":52573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["flashpoints"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"4":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"6":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"7":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"}}},"categories":[100,8,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3351],"class_list":["post-24464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"Q6DHMZSV2RANRNAUSH66SPXSYY","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2017\/12\/05\/us-and-afghan-forces-kill-senior-taliban-and-al-qaida-commanders\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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