ERBIL, Iraq — A U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan has killed a high-ranking al-Qaida operational commander, the U.S. military said Friday.
The U.S. military named the target of the strike as Abu Khalil al-Sudani, saying he was killed in a July 11 airstrike in the Bermal district of Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
In a statement, it said he was head of al-Qaida “suicide and explosives operations” and was linked to plots to attack U.S. targets.
Sudani directed attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, as well as against Afghan and Pakistani forces, it said.
The strike in Paktika was the latest in a series of U.S. counter-terrorism strikes in Afghanistan in recent weeks and also killed two other militants, the military told reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Ash Carter in Erbil, Iraq.