Air strikes kill 12 insurgents in Afghanistan

Two air strikes in eastern Afghanistan killed a dozen insurgents, including a Pakistani Taliban commander, NATO and Afghan officials said Saturday. "There were two separate air strikes in Kunar (province) yesterday. A total of 12 insurgents were killed, six in each air strike," a NATO spokesman told AFP. The police chief of Kunar's Shigal district, where the attacks took place, said most of the militants were from neighbouring Pakistan and included a leader of Pakistan's Tehrik-i Taliban. "Commander Dadullah, the top Taliban commander in Bajaur agency of Pakistan, is also among the dead," Sayed Rahman said. NATO later confirmed that Dadullah "was one of several insurgents killed in a precision air strike in... Kunar province". "Maulawi Dadullah, also known as Jamal, was responsible for the movement of fighters and weapons, as well as attacks against Afghan and coalition forces," NATO said. "Dadullah's deputy, Shakir, was also killed in the air strike." Afghan and Pakistani Taliban Islamists both operate along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Last week, around two dozen militants were killed in NATO air strikes in Chapa Dara district of Kunar as they gathered for a public execution. NATO has some 130,000 troops in Afghanistan helping the government of President Hamid Karzai fight the Taliban insurgency.