Mullah Dadullah's death confirmed

The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base reports this morning that "Forensic evidence has confirmed that Mullah Dadullah has been killed in a skirmish with Afghan troops fighting alongside British and American special forces. Authorities were hesitant to announce Dadullah’s death as it had been erroneously reported several times previously.... Unidentified sources in the Taliban report that Mullah Omar has already begun to search for a replacement."

Dadullah was the insurgency's top field commander and orchestrated a shift in Taliban tactics toward suicide attacks and beheadings. The Taliban has lost several senior commanders in the past six months, but it is not clear the toll it is taking on the organization's operations. According to Afghan intelligence, three of the Taliban leaders freed in March in a prisoner swap for Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo (Mullah Shah Mansoor, Dadullah’s brother, Mullah Hamdullah and Commander Ghafar) were also killed.