Another Taliban commander killed

Bill Roggio:

US and Afghan forces continue to strike hard at the Taliban's leaders in southern Afghanistan. The US Air Force killed Mullah Berader, a senior Taliban general and leader, after British and Afghan forces called in an air strike on Taliban fighters attempting to ambush their patrol in Helmand province. Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense has confirmed Berader's death in the fighting.

Mullah Berader served on the Taliban Shura Majlis, or executive council, up until his death as well as served as a senior commander in southern Afghanistan. He was a senior general prior to the fall of the Taliban in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001. Berader was said to have been close to Mullah Omar, the Taliban's spiritual leader.

Berader is the fourth member of the Taliban Shura Majlis to have been killed or captured since December 2006....

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The success against the senior Taliban commander can be credited to the push into the Helmand River Valley, where the Taliban have established their safe havens within Afghanistan. Successive operations have given Afghan and NATO intelligence a good picture of the Taliban’s network in the region. British, Afghan and US forces have been conducting major battles in the Helmand River Valley over the past several months. NATO and Afghan forces launched Operation Achilles in March of 2007 in an effort to blunt the much touted "Taliban offensive."

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The Taliban have taken frightening losses attempting to defend this terrain, both in leaders and foot soldiers. Operation Storm, which was launched during the month of June, resulted in over 270 Taliban killed alone. In neighboring Kandahar province, 103 Taliban were killed in a single airstrike after attempting to ambush a NATO and Afghan patrol. The Taliban have been repeatedly ambushing NATO and Afghan patrols up and down the Helmand River Valley, only to take dozens of casualties in each engagement. At some point, the Taliban leadership will have to decide if they are capable of defending Helmand province from the onslaught of British and Afghan forces. The Taliban leadership is putting itself at risk by holding firm in Helmand province.

The Taliban appear to be having more success with their kidnapping extortion operations than with any military operations. Assignment to an ambush operation has been the equivalent of a death sentence for many Taliban recruits. What is interesting is that these operations were usually pretty successful against the Russians and the Taliban are having some success with them in Pakistan against the Pakistani army. The Taliban's command and control has been significantly degraded and Taliban leadership is apparently incapable of doing after action analysis needed to prevent repeated mistakes.