An Afghan security force member searches a vehicle at a security checkpoint in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, June 15, 2018. A senior al-Qaida leader was killed following an operation in Afghanistan's eastern province of Ghazni overnight, the command of Afghan special forces said Thursday. (Xinhua/Sayed Monizadah)
KABUL, June 14 (Xinhua) -- A senior al-Qaida leader was killed following an operation in Afghanistan's eastern province of Ghazni overnight, the command of Afghan special forces said Thursday.
"A senior al-Qaida leader was killed following an operation launched by Afghan Special Operations Forces in Gelan district, Ghazni province on Wednesday night," Operational Coordination Group Afghanistan said in a statement.
The statement neither details the operation nor releases information about the identity of the killed.
The province, 125 km south of Afghan capital city Kabul, has been the scene of heavy clashes between security forces and militants within the past several months.
A temporary unilateral seven-day ceasefire by the Afghan government with Taliban militants went into effect on Tuesday before end of Ramadan and the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday, but the Taliban outfit continued attacks on government forces.
The Afghan government in its ceasefire has excluded al-Qaida and the hardliner Islamic State (IS), saying the security forces would continue to chase the said groups' insurgents in the war-battered country.
