KABUL, Jan 26: The US military in Afghanistan said on Saturday that a Taliban-linked militant leader wanted by Washington had been killed in neighbouring Pakistan.

Darim Sedgai was ambushed by unknown gunmen on Jan 16 and died of his wounds, the military said in a statement. The military described him as a “powerful commander” linked to a top Taliban leader, Siraj Haqqani, but did not provide any further details of the incident.

The US military here reportedly had announced a $50,000 bounty for Sedgai in October last year, saying he was wanted for his ties to Taliban and Al Qaeda militant groups.

Sedgai was the third militant commander in Haqqani’s network to die in recent months, the statement said.

Haqqani, the son of famous anti-Russian commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, joined the Taliban during their advance towards Kabul in 1996.—AFP