A known Afghan Taliban commander, namely Arab, was killed in a joint Afghan and NATO-led Coalition forces operation in country's Kandahar province on Tuesday, the provincial government said on Wednesday.
"Based in accurate intelligence reports, a joint unit of Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces carried out an operation on Tuesday afternoon in Zhari district to capture a known Taliban commander namely Arab," the local government said in a press release Wednesday morning, Xinhua reported.
A gunfight broke out as troops arrived in a compound in Pashmol area of the district, resultantly Arab and three of his men were killed in the province with Kandahar city as its capital, some 450 km south of capital city of Kabul, the release reads.
Arab was responsible for organizing attacks on security forces in Zhari district and surrounding areas besides terrorizing local people in the area, it added.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since the militant group announced it would launch a rebel offensive starting from May 1 against Afghan and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan.
The killing of the Taliban commander in Kandahar province, the birthplace of Taliban, is another setback for the Taliban as over 380 fighters of the outfit have been killed and nearly 500 detained by ISAF and Afghan army troops since beginning of November this year.
Currently around 130,000 NATO troops with majority of them Americans have been stationed in Afghanistan.