Akhtar Mohammad Osmani

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani or Usmani (died 19 December 2006)^[1] was a senior leader of the Taliban, treasurer for the organization,^[2] and close associate of Osama bin Laden and Mohammed Omar. He was involved in the demolition of the Buddhas of Bamyan.^[3] He was considered a potential successor to Mullah Omar.^[4] Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, once referred to him as one of the four most dangerous Taliban members still in Afghanistan.^[5]

Shortly after the 11 September attacks, CIA officer Robert Grenier met him to offer the Taliban the opportunity to give up Osama bin Laden.^[4]

On December 2006, as he was riding in a four-wheel drive vehicle in Helmand Province, Osmani was killed by a smart bomb in a United States Air Force airstrike;^[3] he had been tracked down by a Royal Air Force airplane which monitored his satellite phone.^[2] Spokesmen of the Taliban initially denied his death,^[6] and claimed that the bomb had instead killed a Taliban leader called Abdul Zahir.^[7] However, several days later other top Taliban officials confirmed his death.^[8]

References

1. ^ "Bin Laden's "close associate" killed in southern Afghanistan". Yahoo! News. 2006-12-23. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061223/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanunresttaliban. Retrieved 2006-12-28. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ ^{a b} Smith, Michael (2006-12-24). "Taliban leader ‘killed’ after RAF tracks phone". London: The Sunday Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2517947,00.html. Retrieved 2006-12-28. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Bin Laden associate killed, U.S. says". Yahoo! News. 2006-12-23. Archived from the original on 2006-12-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20061230005429/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061223/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan. Retrieved 2006-12-23.  (Link dead as of 20:58, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
4. ^ ^{a b} Grey, Stephen. Key Taliban Leaders in Afghanistan Eliminated, ABC News, 24 July 2008.
5. ^ "Afghanistan: The Broadening Border War". StrategyWorld.com. 2006-04-28. http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/afghan/articles/20060428.aspx. Retrieved 2006-12-28. 
6. ^ "U.S.: Top bin Laden associate killed". CNN.com. 2006-12-23. Archived from the original on 2006-12-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20061225021304/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/12/23/afghan.osmani/index.html. Retrieved 2006-12-24. 
7. ^ "Forensic analysis confirms identity of slain Taliban leader". Daily Times (Pakistan). 25 December 2006. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C12%5C25%5Cstory_25-12-2006_pg7_29. Retrieved 2008-02-03. 
8. ^ "Taliban official admits U.S. strike killed military chief". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-12-27. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/27/osmani-death.html. Retrieved 2006-12-27. 

Persondata
Name	Osmani, Akhtar Mohammad
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	2006-12-19
Place of death