Kabul, January 4: Thirteen Taliban fighters were killed by an airstrike in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, the provincial press office said on Monday. Among them was a Taliban leader who was recently released under the US-brokered peace deal with the Afghan government, as confirmed by the Afghan National Directorate of Security.

Last February, the Taliban and the Afghan government reached a landmark agreement, mediated by the United States in the Qatari capital of Doha, paving the way for peace talks. Afghanistan: Six Terrorists Killed, Taliban Camp Destroyed in Airstrike in Balkh Province.

Among other things, the deal stipulated the release of each other's prisoners -- 5,000 Taliban by Kabul and 1,000 government affiliates by the radical group.