"The vehicle was completely destroyed, there was nothing to recognize," Collins said. "But we have various intelligence assets that we monitor, that we look at very closely, and of course we work with the intelligence agencies of the Afghan government and through those sources we are sure that he is dead."The Taliban denies that Osmani was the guy turned into extra-crunchy peanut butter by the airstrike, but the fact that US officials spent four days confirming his identity before releasing the news... pretty much locks in a confirmed kill.
During Taliban rule, Osmani was the corps commander of Kandahar, the militia's seat of power.
In a matter-of-fact statement to the media, U.S. military spokesman Col. Tom Collins addressed the ongoing nature of the conflict...
"There's no doubt that it will have an immediate impact on their ability to conduct attacks," Collins said. "But the Taliban is fairly adaptive.
They'll put somebody else in that position and we'll go after that person, too."
Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, Akhtar Mohammad Osmani, Taliban
