Aussie troops kill senior Taliban leader

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has released the name of the Taliban leader
killed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Mullah Abdul Rasheed was killed by the Special Task Group (SOTG) during a recent
operation in Oruzgan province.
Rasheed was involved with the importation of foreign fighters, Improvised Explosive
Device (IED) experts and potential suicide bombers, the ADF said.
Defence believe he was also responsible for the rocket attack that killed Private
Gregory Sher last weekend.
Chief of joint operations, Lieutenant General Mark Evans, described Rasheed as a
"significant Taliban leader".
"We were after Rasheed for a long time," Lieutenant General Mark Evans told
reporters in Canberra.
"The death of Rasheed will have an affect on the ability of the Taliban to conduct
coherent operations in Oruzgan Province."
In Canberra, Defence said setting a time line for the withdrawal of troops from
Afghanistan was a matter for the federal government to decide.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has devised a plan to suppress the Taliban and
allow Afghan government forces to take full security responsibility by 2012.
Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Mark Evans said Operations Plan 2012
sets the benchmarks for operations in Afghanistan.
Any time line for the withdrawal of Australian troops would be determined by the
government, he said.
"There is no time line for withdrawal of Australian troops from Afghanistan, that is
a matter for the Australian government to decide," Lt Gen Evans told reporters in
Canberra.
"(It) is a tactical planning document that allows the ADF to set benchmarks for the
conduct of its operations in Afghanistan."