Taliban chief who killed Cpl Sarah is taken out by laser-guided missiles

In what military chiefs described as a 'deliberate and surgical strike', the 35-year-old rebel leader - known as Sadiqullah - died alongside nine fellow Taliban fighters after the Apache fired two laser-guided Hellfire missiles at their red pick-up truck and destroyed it.

The rebel leader had been tracked down after weeks of secret intelligence work.

Sarah Bryant, 26, pictured with her husband Carl on their wedding day, was killed in Afghanistan following an attack masterminded by Sadiqullah

His death would have been instantaneous, as the warheads of the 5ft-long missiles, which travel at 950mph, are loaded with high-explosives designed to destroy even the heaviest tank armour.

The British military spokesman in Afghanistan, Lt Col Robin Matthews, said last night: 'This was a deliberate and surgical strike against a man who facilitated a number of fatal attacks on British, Nato and Afghan forces and civilians.

'It was conducted with meticulous precision and strikes a blow at the heart of the Taliban's leadership in southern Afghanistan.'

The secret operation was carried out on Thursday by two Army Air Corps pilots who were ordered to fly to a dusty road ten miles northwest of the town of Kajaki, where intelligence reports had confirmed that Sadiqullah was a passenger in the pick-up truck.

It is believed that his whereabouts were leaked to British forces - quite possibly by Afghans who want the violence destroying their country to end.

The attack came after an intense summer campaign mounted by Sadiqullah and his Taliban fighters against British, American and Nato forces.

Victims of his roadside bombs included intelligence officer Corporal Sarah Bryant, 26, the first British woman soldier to be killed in Afghanistan. She died alongside three SAS reservists. Two Paratroopers also died in Taliban ambushes last week.

Sadiqullah was one of a number of key Taliban militia known as 'Sarbaz' - people who care nothing for their own lives.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of young men have been recruited by the Taliban to join their guerilla war against the Coalition-backed government of Mohammed Karzai.

Precision: How the Taliban leader was killed

Sadiqullah is said to have put his life on hold - even though he was engaged - in order to fight what he saw as the western invaders.

He was interviewed in 2003 and said: 'My parents insisted that I wait a while and get married, but I told them that my first and last commitment is jihad and I don't want to make any other commitments at this stage.'

The rebel is thought to have often spent days travelling on foot through deserts and rugged mountain passes to avoid capture, while mounting daily hit-and-run attacks.

On Friday, a Royal Logistics Corps soldier died in an accident when a vehicle he was travelling in rolled over. He is expected to be named today.