US forces kill Abdul Rauf Khadim: Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Pajhwok): The US forces on Monday killed former Taliban commander Abdul Rauf Khadim, the Pentagon conformed Tuesday.

“Yesterday US forces in Afghanistan conducted a precision strike in Helmand province, resulting in the death of eight individuals, to include Abdul Rauf Khadim, a former Taliban commander,” the Pentagon Press Secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby, told reporters at a news conference.             

Khadim and his associates were targeted, because the US had information that they were planning operations against US and Afghan personnel there in Afghanistan, Kirby said.

“These are both reminders that we’re going to continue to use all the tools at our disposal, financial, diplomatic, certainly military, to dismantle al-Shabaab and other groups, networks that threaten US interests as well as the interests of our allies and partner nations,” he said.

Responding to questions, Kirby said the ISIL at present has a nascent presence in Afghanistan. “The way I would describe ISIL in Afghanistan is nascent at best. In fact, I would say more aspirational than anything else at this point,” he said.

“This guy Khadim, we assess that he decided to swear allegiance to ISIL probably no more than a couple weeks ago. And he didn’t have a whole lot of depth to any network resources or manpower when he did it,” he said.

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