> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah killed - URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/sbriefs140507/ - Published: 2007-05-14T15:05:04.000Z - Updated: 2019-02-14T22:56:00.000Z - Author: terrorism.openDemocracy Terrorism.opendemocracy - Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 19:37 **Taliban leader killed** After initially denying reports of his death, Taliban spokesmen have now confirmed that [**Mullah Dadullah**](http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/805FCFA7-D970-4234-8A97-A196A86B1926.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net), their most public and prominent leader, has been killed in clashes with Afghan and Nato forces in the southern province of Helmand. Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's military commander, had a [**bloody reputation**](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/14/wtaliban114.xml&ref=opendemocracy.net) earned through numerous alleged atrocities, including most famously the massacre of Hazaras - a Shia minority group - in the province of Bamiyan eight years ago. **Border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan** Afghan and Pakistani forces clashed and bombarded each other's border posts over the weekend, leaving 12 people dead. The fighting has been described as the [**worst**](http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/14/rss.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net#28) in decades between the two prickly neighbours. Pakistani officials claim that the fighting was prompted by a misunderstanding between an Afghan and a Pakistani border post. Both governments and US and Nato representatives have met to resolve the dispute. Despite the political intervention, three American and two Pakistani soldiers were wounded in [**subsequent firing**](http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/14/rss.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net#29) that allegedly came from the Afghan side. Afghanistan's parliament has forced [**Rangeen Dadfar Spanta**](http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2263139D-74F3-4913-8C55-3E6D1AC05CB2.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net), the current foreign minister, to step down over his mishandling an influx of Afghan refugees from Iran. **Violence in India's northeast** Two people were killed in bomb blast in a [**marketplace**](http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/14/rss.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net#23) in the restive northeastern state of Assam, where separatists continue to mount a violent insurgency. Elsewhere in Assam, protests staged over the killing of a civilian by state security forces have prompted clashes between Assamese and [**"tribespeople"**](http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL165920.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net), who attacked the protesters' barricades with sticks and bows and arrows. **Blast destroys Russian café** Ten people were killed in a blast at a [**café**](http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/14/rss.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net#2) in Orsk, in the Russian region of Orenburg. **Iranian president aims strong words at US** During a visit to the US-allied United Arab Emirates, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the withdrawal of all US troops from the [**Persian Gulf**](http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/13/rss.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net#28) region. He also promised [**"severe retaliation"**](http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B2240F2E-CA5C-4593-A664-AD68EDCD60B0.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) to any attack on Iran by the United States. Ahmadinejad's bluster comes as US and Iranian representatives look likely to [**meet**](http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BF552B1C-DB3A-4B0C-9B6A-F73C37980A64.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) in the coming weeks to discuss how to stabilise the precarious security situation in Iraq. **Kurdish region suffers further attacks** A car-bombing attack on the [**offices**](http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1CAEA4FC-9B1A-4272-8FFC-C5AA976BF9ED.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) of the Kurdistan Democratic Party has killed over fifty people. The blast comes as the autonomous and relatively stable Kurdish region in Iraq is in the grips of a fit of terrorist violence. The militant group [**"Islamic State in Iraq"**](http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14474947.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) \- with alleged al-Qaida leadership - has claimed responsibility for the attack. **Nationalist protests - and bomb - shake Izmir** At least [**a million people**](http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/476B952C-8237-4629-9369-77DF4E1A7BC0.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) marched in Turkey's second city Izmir against the ruling AK party. Pro-secular, Kemalist Turks fear that the ruling party's Islamist roots will undermine Turkey's secular constitution. On Saturday, a bombing in the city killed one man and injured 14 people. **Algeria intercepts al-Qaida recruits** Algerian security forces claim to have [**intercepted**](http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CAD1888E-3A92-4216-B6DA-ABD707DEBD00.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) three Libyan men, on their way to join Al-Qaida in the Maghreb, the terrorist network's wing in North Africa. Three Algerian [**soldiers**](http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/AHM429709.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) were killed by a bomb blast in the country-side east of Algiers. The Algerian army has stepped up its assault on the country's Islamist militants, and now faces sharper reprisals. **Nigeria's energy politics** Nigeria's outgoing president Olusegun Obasanjo visited the restive southern [**Niger Delta**](http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14617798.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) region to perform a ground-breaking ceremony for a new $8 billion gas plant. Militants in the region have waged an intensifying campaign against the many foreign oil companies present in the Delta. Militants recently kidnapped a [**manager**](http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14559157.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) working of Italian company Agip.