Senior Taliban leader killed
British forces in Afghanistan have killed their third senior Taliban leader in little more than three weeks, in what British forces described as a "shattering blow" to the insurgent group, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced.
Abdul Rasaq - also known as Mullah Sheikh - is understood to have been responsible for leading insurgents in the area around Musa Qala in Helmand province since December last year, when British forces captured the former Taliban stronghold.
His death came just hours after the most senior Taliban leader in the province, Mullah Rahim, gave himself up to authorities in Pakistan, said the MoD.
Rahim - thought to be one of the five top Taliban commanders - is reported to have handed himself in to Pakistani police near the Afghan border and is in custody in the town of Quetta.
Mullah Sheikh was killed, along with three other fighters, by a precision missile strike about 10 miles north of Musa Qala just after midnight on Sunday.
The attack came eight days after the death of a senior Taliban leader and associate of Rahim known as Bishmullah, and 24 days after leading bomb-maker Sadiqullah was killed in a missile strike from an Apache helicopter.
Nato is conducting a campaign directed at the leadership of the Taliban, the success of which has led to hopes that a "power vacuum" at the top has weakened the group.
British forces spokesman Lt Col Robin Matthews said: "The Taliban's senior leadership structure has suffered a shattering blow.
"They remain a dangerous enemy, but they increasingly lack strategic direction and their proposition to the Afghan people is proving ultimately negative and self-defeating."
The Provincial Governor of Helmand, Governor Mangal, urged militiamen to switch over to the Government side.
