Key Taliban Leaders in Afghanistan Eliminated

After a relentless series of "decapitation strikes" by coalition forces, almost the entire leadership of the Taliban that confronted NATO a year ago has now been captured or killed, including Mullah Akhtar Usmani and Mansour Dadullah.

From ABC News:

After a relentless series of "decapitation strikes" coalition sources say they have captured or killed almost the entire leadership of the Taliban that confronted NATO a year ago. The Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Omar, however, still remains at large.

"The Taliban's command and control, as it was, has effectively been liquidated in south Afghanistan," said one senior NATO official. "The acid test is whether this will prove a strategic turning point, or whether a new leadership will emerge that is less controlled but more deadly."

There are already signs that the decapitation campaign is having an effect. One NATO commander said many local Taliban commanders were "getting a real sense that their death is near."

Read more ....

My Comment: A truly successful operation will be the elimination of Mullah Omar. The one-eyed leader of the Taliban has .... and is .... the driving force behind the entire Taliban movement.

Unlike Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders, the Taliban leadership are in a fight to the finish with Nato and Afghan forces. Their power and authority stems from their willingness and determination to fight in Afghanistan .... not to be hiding in a cave somewhere. This participation will mean that many Taiban leaders and commanders will then be killed .... something that Nato and Afghan forces are only too happy to oblige.