Taliban commander killed in Afghan airstrike in Kapisa

This image taken on April 28, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan shows air force helicopters during an air show in celebration of Victory Day.

A Taliban commander has been killed in an Afghan government airstrike in the northeastern province of Kapisa.

The early Friday morning airstrike in Nijrab district killed Dilawar Khan and five of his family members, said Qais Qaderi, a spokesman for the province's governor.

Qaderi added that a search operation to locate Khan's militant brother, who remains at large, had been launched. The brother reportedly fled the scene during the airstrike.

Khan, himself, was shooting at the air force from his home before the airstrike, Qaderi said.

Kapisa, which is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, is located in the northeast of the country, about 100 kilometers north of the capital Kabul.

Taliban are mostly based in the south and east of Afghanistan, along the border with Pakistan. However, the group has been behind many attacks in the north of the country, as well.

A number of local government and security officials have been killed in different incidents in Kapisa in the past few months.

The head of Kapisa Ulema Council, Gul Mohammad Hanifyar, was gunned down by unknown gunmen last week.

Last month, Taliban forces launched several attacks on a number of checkpoints and military bases across the war-ravaged country, leaving more than 100 Afghan soldiers dead and dozens more injured.

An Afghan soldier keeps watch at a checkpoint in the Maiwand district of Kandahar province on November 14, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The United States and its NATO allies invaded Afghanistan as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror in 2001. The US-led forces toppled the Taliban regime, but Afghanistan is still rife with violence despite the presence of foreign troops across the country.