Drone kills IS commander in Afghanistan: officialsFebruary 9, 2015 - 15:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A missile-firing drone killed six people in Afghanistan on Monday, Feb 9, including a veteran militant believed to have defected to Islamic State (IS) from the Taliban, Afghan officials said, according to Reuters. The senior militant, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mullah Abdul Rauf, was killed in the violence-plagued southern province of Helmand, officials there said. Police chief Nabi Jan Mullahkhel said Rauf was travelling in a car when the drone attacked. The other casualties included his brother-in-law and four Pakistanis, Mullahkhel said. He did not give more details of the attack. Rauf had been influential in Afghanistan's jihadi movement for well over a decade. Media reports last month said he had begun recruiting for Islamic State, part of a push by the movement to gain traction beyond its stronghold in Iraq and Syria. Afghanistan's main intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), said in a statement Rauf was in charge of IS in southwestern Afghanistan and he was killed just after mid-day in "a successful military operation". Helmand's deputy governor, Mohammad Jan Rasulyar, said Rauf's membership of IS could not be confirmed but his associates were dressed in black outfits often worn by IS members. "It is too early to confirm that he was Daish but his people were wearing the same clothes and mask," Rasulyar said, referring to IS. A U.S. military report released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks in 2011 said that Rauf had tried to pass himself off as a low level Taliban worker who "delivered bread," but that interrogators suspected he was more senior, Reuters says. Also in 2011, Newsweek magazine reported that Rauf had once led an elite fighting force close to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and that after his return to Afghanistan in 2007 he had become the Taliban's shadow governor in Uruzgan province. Guantanamo interrogators said Rauf had revealed detailed knowledge of Afghanistan's opium trade. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. |