The head of the Taliban air force has been killed during air raids by US and British forces in Afghanistan, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Monday.

Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the commander of Afghan Taliban regime's air force "got killed during one of Monday's air raids by the American-British forces," IRNA reported, quoting an "informed source".
The agency said it had been contacted by phone from Afghanistan, and that the source had added that "another Taliban high-ranking military official, General Umar Ataie, the commander of Nangarhar's First Battalion, has also been killed during the same air raid".

The agency stressed that the reports had not been confirmed by other sources.
US warplanes and sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles struck targets in Afghanistan on Monday on the second consecutive night of a US military campaign to weaken the country's Taliban rulers and uproot terrorist networks.

Britain's defence ministry said that it was not directly involved in Monday's bombing operation, but was acting in a logistical support role.
British forces were involved in Sunday's initial assault on Taliban targets along with the United States. Bureau Report