The Ministry of Defense says Amir Khan Muttaqi a former Taliban minister was wounded in an airstrike that targeted a gathering of Taliban leaders in Ghazni province.

The ministry said in a statement that the Afghan Army’s Air Force targeted the gathering in Langai village in Nawa district in Ghazni. 

The airstrike was carried out based on intelligence that had been gathered, the statement added.

The MoD said Muttaqi, Mullah Khalifa and Mullah Shah Mohammad, both members of the Quetta Shura; Mullah Yusuf, Taliban’s designated shadow governor for Ghazni; and Mullah Sayed Almas, Taliban’s designated shadow governor for Paktia, were present at the gathering.

The ministry said 24 Taliban members were killed and 17 others were wounded in the airstrike. 

According to initial information, the ministry said Muttaqi, Khalifa, Shah Mohammad and Mulalh Yusuf were among the wounded.

Muttaqi was Taliban’s minister of information and culture in 2001, a member of the Taliban Supreme Council Quetta as at June 2007, and is a member of Taliban’s Quetta Shura Council and Official in Charge of its Media Committee. 

Muttaqi was born in Shin Kalai village, Zurmat District, Paktia province. He is thought to be currently living in Pakistan. He was the Taliban representative in UN-led talks under the Taliban regime.

The Taliban has not yet commented on the report.