Pentagon says Al-Qaeda commander killed by airstrike

A U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan killed a high-ranking Al-Qaeda operational commander, the U.S. military said on Friday.

The U.S. military said the target of the strike was Abu Khalil al-Sudani, saying he was killed in a July 11 strike in the Bermal district of Afghanistan's Paktika province.

In a statement, the Pentagon said he was head of Al-Qaeda “suicide and explosives operations” and was linked to plots to attack U.S. targets.

Sudani directed attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan as well as against Afghan and Pakistani forces, it said.

The strike in Paktika was the latest in a series of U.S. strikes in Afghanistan in recent weeks and also killed two other suspected fighters, the military told reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Ash Carter in Erbil, Iraq.

Reuters