NATO-led forces say a senior commander of the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has been killed by allied troops in northwestern Afghanistan.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a March 27 statement that Afghan special forces and NATO soldiers killed Makhdum Nusrat and several other IMU fighters one day earlier.

No independent confirmation was available.

Makhdum is said to have been the highest-ranking IMU insurgent operating in Afghanistan. He was accused of leading attacks against Afghan and coalition troops in Afghanistan's northern provinces, and also of plotting the assassination of an Afghan parliament member.

The IMU is believed to be active in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan.

The group's leaders have declared that their goal is to establish an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia.

With reporting by Reuters