NATO claimed on Thursday it had killed a Taliban commander during an airstrike on Tuesday in central Afghanistan.

NATO claimed on Thursday it had killed a Taliban commander during an airstrike on Tuesday in central Afghanistan.

Qari Tahir was a target of an operation last August. However the operation was failed as the helicopter which was carrying US occupation troops crashed in an ambush by Taliban, killing 30 troops.

The airstrike on Tuesday was carried in Wardak province, central Afghanistan, the military said.
"A precision air strike killed Taliban leader Qari Tahir after the security force located Tahir and an associate in a dry riverbed in Sayd Abad district, "the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

"Tahir was the Taliban's top leader in Tangi Valley and was the target of a previous combined operation on Aug. 5, 2011, that resulted in the loss of the CH-47 Chinook last month.
"He led a group of insurgent fighters throughout the valley and was known to use roadside bombs and rockets to intimidate the local populace."

The US said last month it had killed those behind the helicopter's downing, but a senior Afghan government official told AFP news agency that it was Tahir who had lured US forces to the scene by tipping them off about a Taliban meeting.