Australia says Taliban commander killed in offensive

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian special forces have killed a Taliban commander involved in recruiting suicide bombers and foreign fighters in Afghanistan, Australia's Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

The Taliban launched scores of suicide bombings across Afghanistan last year, mostly aimed at the 65,000 foreign troops in the country as well as Afghan forces. Most of the victims of the attacks are civilian passers-by, security experts say.

Mullah Abdul Rasheed was a "primary" facilitator of attacks using improvised bombs against foreign forces in the southern province of Uruzgan, the ministry said in a statement.

"The death of Mullah Abdul Rasheed is a significant achievement for the Special Operations Task Group," said Lieutenant General Mark Evans, Australia's chief of joint operations.

As a result, "we have significantly disrupted insurgent operations in Uruzgan province," Evans said.

Rasheed was a senior commander in the Baluchi valley, in Uruzgan province and was thought to be responsible for Taliban operations in the area and bringing in "potential suicide bombers," foreign fighters and bomb experts, the statement said.

Rasheed was killed in Uruzgan in an operation involving Australia's Special Operations Task Group.

Although the ministry statement did not say when Rasheed died, it indicated he was killed some time in the last week.

The Australian military is investigating reports its troops killed or wounded nine Afghan civilians in the same valley in the last week, the Australian Defence Force said on Thursday.