Taliban sources confirmed today that the movement's top operational commander was killed in a clash with Western and Afghan forces.
Mullah Dadullah's killing at the weekend was widely regarded as the biggest blow to the Taliban since they began an insurgency after US-led coalition troops overthrew their radical Islamic government in 2001.
Undated photo of the Taliban's top operational commander Mullah Dadullah, who was said to be surrounded in the Uruzgan province of Afghanistan at the time of his death
Nicknamed Afghanistan's Al Zarqawi after the slain al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, the one-legged Dadullah was the main architect of suicide bombings, kidnapping of foreigners and Afghans, a series of beheadings and the rise of violence in the south.
"It is a very big loss for us because Dadullah was a very important commander and Taliban's war planner against coalition and Afghan forces," a senior Taliban commander said.
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is consulting with the Taliban leadership council on Dadullah's replacement, he said.
Dadullah was killed in a clash as part of a widespread US-led operation in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, the main bastion for the militants and the key drug producing region of the country.
Authorities made Dadullah's death public only after forensic tests confirmed his identity because past reports of his demise turned out to be false.