Taliban Military Leader Is Killed

Dadullah, a veteran of the war against the Soviets in the 1980s who orchestrated a Taliban slaughter of ethnic Hazaras during the late 1990s, had taken over much of the day-to-day control of the organization in recent years.

Thomas said Dadullah had been in a "sanctuary" in a neighboring country before moving into Afghanistan's Helmand province, where he was killed. Thomas declined to name the country, but many observers have long suspected that much of the top Taliban leadership lives in Pakistan.

The Pakistani military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, denied that on Sunday, saying, "If he was here, he would have been caught here."

U.S. and international security officials would not supply details of how Dadullah was tracked, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence information used in the operation. But a member of the Afghan parliament from Helmand province, Mir Wali Khan, said that Dadullah's wife's family lives in the village where he was killed.

Khan said Dadullah was visiting his brother-in-law's home when it was surrounded, and he was asked to surrender. Instead, gunfire emanated from the building, at which point U.S. and Afghan forces returned fire, Khan said.

That account was confirmed by other officials in the beleaguered Afghan government, who were quick to portray the news of Dadullah's death as a major victory in their fight against the Taliban.

"I don't see any Talib out there who's stronger than Mullah Dadullah. He was arranging all the anti-government operations, including the kidnappings and the killings of innocent civilians," Khan said. "He was a very important guy for the Taliban."

The governor of the southern province of Kandahar, Asadullah Khaled, said in an interview Sunday evening that the Taliban leader was "a cannibal" who would kill his own men if they did not show sufficient commitment to the cause. Khaled had displayed Dadullah's body for reporters that morning.

"He was not only dangerous to the government and to innocent people, he was dangerous to the local Taliban, too," Khan said. "Now some of those Taliban will join the peace process."

Dadullah was also known for his use of information warfare. He produced numerous video and audio recordings in which he assailed the international presence in Afghanistan and the pro-American government of President Hamid Karzai. In April, he asserted on television that Osama bin Laden was alive and that the al-Qaeda leader had been behind a suicide attack in February outside a U.S. base during a visit by Vice President Cheney.

"Dadullah represented what we might call the new Taliban, who are much closer to al-Qaeda and much more media-savvy," said Barnett R. Rubin, a professor at New York University who has studied Afghanistan for decades. "So his death could have some effect on incapacitating that aspect of the Taliban."

Earlier this spring, the Taliban abducted an Italian journalist, along with his Afghan interpreter and driver. The Italian was eventually released in a prisoner exchange, but the two Afghans were beheaded on Dadullah's orders. Dadullah later publicly accused the Afghan government of showing indifference toward the two Afghans while going to great lengths to save the Italian.

Muneer Naqshbandi, the brother of the slain interpreter, said he was overjoyed Sunday to hear that Dadullah had been killed.

"When I heard the news, I couldn't control myself," he said. "I wanted to go out on the streets and shout my happiness to everyone. This is the government's biggest achievement in the past five years."

Hamdard reported from Kabul.