U.S.-Led Forces Kill Taliban Commander - Officials

Before that ambush, Dastagir had been jailed but was released by order of President Hamid Karzai, a defence ministry official said.

U.S.-led troops have killed a wanted Taliban commander in an air strike in Afghanistan's southwestern province of Badghis, U.S. and Afghan officials said on Monday.

Mullah Dastagir along with eight other militants were killed in a raid on a village near Turkmenistan's border on Sunday night, they said.

Dastagir was behind a series of attacks in Badghis, including an ambush in which 13 Afghan soldiers were killed last November, they added.

Before that ambush, Dastagir had been jailed but was released by order of President Hamid Karzai, a defence ministry official said.

The U.S. military confirmed the air strike and the casualties including Dastagir's killing.

The Taliban could not be reached for comment.

Ousted in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, in reprisal for sheltering al Qaeda leaders responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on America, the Taliban have managed to extend the scope and extent of their insurgency in recent years.