Taliban leader killed in Afghanistan

Afghan and coalition forces have killed a Taliban leader they said was behind an Aug. 7 attack on a coalition base in Afghanistan's Logar province. The International Security Assistance Force Joint Command said in a release Wednesday the Taliban leader -- identified as Bismullah -- was one of three insurgents killed Tuesday in an airstrike in Logar's Pul-e Alam district. No civilians were in the area at the time of the strike and there was no damage to civilian property, officials said. The release said Bismullah is believed to have supplied equipment to suicide bombers for the Aug. 7 attack, in which several Afghan civilians were wounded. Officials said the attack caused no "significant damage" to the coalition base. The joint command said Bismullah was believed to be planning a large-scale attack and had transported several rockets across the region. The news release also said Afghan and coalition forces killed an undetermined number of armed insurgents Wednesday while attempting to arrest a senior Taliban leader in the Chimtal district of Afghanistan's Balkh province. The release did not say whether the Taliban leader was arrested. The joint command said coalition forces and Afghan special police seized a vehicle packed with about 3 tons of explosives in Kandahar province's Maiwand district Tuesday. The explosives were destroyed and the truck's three occupants were detained.