KABUL, Afghanistan – Coalition forces conducted a precision air strike in Faryab province Tuesday, killing Qari Ziauddin, the Taliban shadow governor in Faryab province.
The shadow governor was directly associated with and took direct operational orders from a Pakistan-based leader of the northern front.
Based on intelligence sources, coalition forces tracked the Taliban shadow governor to a remote area of Dowlatabad district. After careful planning to ensure no civilians were present, coalition aircraft conducted a precision air strike against the Taliban insurgent.
A follow-on joint ground force went to the engagement site to assess the results of the strike. As coalition forces approached, armed individuals threatened the security force. The security force engaged and killed four insurgents and confirmed Qari Ziauddin was killed during the air strike.
The security force also searched a series of caves discovering a destroyed machine gun, multiple automatic weapons, grenades, magazines and machine gun ammunition along with improvised explosive device material including blasting caps and detonation cord at the scene. They also discovered a weapons cache, but large secondary explosions prevented the force from assessing the contents.