WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US forces killed the Taliban commander for Kunduz, Mullah Salam, in a Sunday airstrike, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission to Afghanistan said in release said in Tuesday.
"As part of an operation with Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, United States Forces conducted a strike that killed Mullah Salam, the Taliban commander for Kunduz," the release said.
Salam was eliminated together with four other Taliban combatants in a February 26 operation targeting the insurgent group in Kunduz province, the release stated.
Afghanistan is in a state of political and social turmoil, with government forces fighting the continuing Taliban insurgency. The instability has persisted in the country since the 2001 US-led invasion to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
The lack of control and instability turned the country into home to the largest opium poppy production and distribution network in the world.
