Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani or Usmani (died 19 December 2006) was a senior leader of the Taliban, treasurer for the organization, and close associate of Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...

 and Mohammed Omar

Mohammed Omar

Mullah Mohammed Omar , often simply called Mullah Omar, is the leader of the Taliban movement that operates in Afghanistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title "Head of the Supreme Council"...

. He was involved in the demolition of the Buddhas of Bamyan

Buddhas of Bamyan

The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2,500 meters...

. He was considered a potential successor to Mullah Omar. Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...

, President of Afghanistan

President of Afghanistan

Afghanistan has only been a republic between 1973 and 1992 and from 2001 onwards. Before 1973, it was a monarchy that was governed by a variety of kings, emirs or shahs...

, once referred to him as one of the four most dangerous Taliban members still in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

.

Shortly after the 11 September attacks, CIA

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

 officer Robert Grenier met him to offer the Taliban the opportunity to give up Osama bin Laden.

On December 2006, as he was riding in a four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...

 vehicle in Helmand Province

Helmand Province

Helmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation....

, Osmani was killed by a smart bomb

Precision-guided munition

A precision-guided munition is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, and to minimize damage to things other than the target....

 in a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 airstrike

Airstrike

An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...

; he had been tracked down by a Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 airplane which monitored his satellite phone

Satellite phone

A satellite telephone, satellite phone, or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell sites...

. Spokesmen of the Taliban initially denied his death, and claimed that the bomb had instead killed a Taliban leader called Abdul Zahir. However, several days later other top Taliban officials confirmed his death.