U.S. General Takes Command in Afghanistan

U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeil assumed control Sunday of the NATO forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

British Gen. David Richards formally handed over control of the 33,000 international troops in Afghanistan to McNeil at a Kabul ceremony, the BBC reported. Richards led the NATO force for nine months.

Richards told the BBC a Taliban commander in the southern Helmand province had been killed in an overnight airstrike.

It’s almost 100 percent certain that … the leader of the Taliban grouping in Musa Qala that intimidated the people and took over the center, has just actually been taken out in an air strike along with some of his leading henchmen, Richards said.

McNeil has been in Afghanistan before, and the BBC said he is expected to have more troops under his command than Richards did.