Jahadi, and five other Taliban members were killed during the police operation in the central Afghan province of Ghazni, the ministry said in a statement.

“A top Taliban commander named Mullah Firoz Jahadi along with five other armed Taliban killed in Aab Band district of Ghazni province in an Afghan National Police ambush.”

According to the ministry, Jahadi had been leading Taliban efforts to regain control of Kunduz.

The strategically important city, considered a gateway to northern Afghanistan, is linked by road to Kabul in the south, Mazar-e-Sharif in the west and Tajikistan in the north.

Kunduz also has symbolic significance for the Taliban, as the city was a key northern stronghold until 2001, when its fighters were ousted by the Northern Alliance after the US-led invasion began in the wake of 9/11. (Euronews)