NATO officials say a senior Taliban leader has been killed in a precision air strike near Musa Qala, the Afghan town taken over and occupied by armed militants this week.
NATO spokesperson Col. Tom Collins said the Taliban leader was riding in a car when he was killed.
Musa Qala was overrun by about 200 Taliban militants on Thursday. They stormed the town centre, disarmed police and raised their flag over the town.
NATO forces pulled out of the town last fall after a peace agreement was reached with local elders. They agreed to use the armed Afghan forces to keep the Taliban out, and in return NATO and Afghan forces would not come within 4.83 kilometres of the town.
The deal was criticized at the time, with some suggesting the Afghan signatories themselves were members of the Taliban.
Collins said the Taliban leader was killed within the 4.83-km zone, but with the approval of the Afghan government.
NATO has not released the name of the Taliban leader, but Mohammed Wali, a resident of Musa Qala, said the strike killed Mullah Abdul Gafoor and some of his associates while they were riding in a truck through a small village near Musa Qala.
On Saturday another resident, Lal Mohammad, told The Associated Press that the Musa Qala militants were being led by Gafoor. He was the Taliban's militia corps commander in western Afghanistan before the Taliban was ousted from power.
Roughly 10,000 people live in Musa Qala, though many of them have fled the town since the Taliban took over on Thursday, fearing NATO air strikes.
Gen. David Richards, who was replaced Sunday as NATO's commander, told AP on Saturday that efforts to push the Taliban from Musa would be "very surgical and deliberate."
Meanwhile, on Sunday, U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill took command of the 35,500-strong International Security Assistance Force. He took over from Richards.
Late Sunday, Afghan officials dropped leaflets on Musa Qala, calling on the militants to leave.
With files from The Associated Press
