The province’s police chief said that the al-Qaeda commander was targeted in Dareen area of Ghazi Abad District on Friday. The al-Qaeda commander was a foreign national but two of his body guards killed with him were Afghans, Brigadier General Abdul Habib Sayedkhil said on Saturday.
Drone strikes in Afghanistan are usually carried out by U.S. forces but they had not commented on the report by the time it was filed. U.S. drone strikes have killed several other important commanders of al-Qaeda network in Kunar province in the past.
In April 2011, a drone strike killed Abu Hafs Al Najdi, a Saudi citizen who also went by the name Abdul Ghani, then number two on the coalition’s list of Al Qaeda targets. Kunar on the border with Pakistan’s tribal areas is a mountainous area with having jungles where terrorists can easily make nests and organize attacks.
