Senior al-Qaeda leader executed by NATO

A U.S. –led NATO force in Afghanistan executed al-Qaeda’s second-highest leader in the country in an airstrike in eastern Kunar province, the coalition reported on Tuesday. Sakhr al-Taifi, who also goes by the names Mushtaq and Nasim, was responsible for commanding foreign insurgents in Afghnaistan and directing attacks against NATO and Afghan forces, the alliance said. Al-Taifi often traveled between Afghanistan and Pakistan, carrying out commands from senior al-Qaeda leadership and ferrying in weapons and fighters.

The NATO airstrike that killed al-Taifi and another al-Qaeda militant took place on Sunday in Junar’s Watahpur district, the coalition reported. No civilians were harmed, they said. Many senior al-Qaeda commanders have died in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region, and Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda’s chief, was killed by U.S. commandos in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad last May. The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan was carried out because bin Laden used the country as his base to plan the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington. The majority of al-Qaeda’s leaders are reportedly now based in Pakistan, where they fled following the U.S. invasion.