KABUL (AFP) -- The killing of the Taleban's chief military planner is a blow to the rebels but its effect on the insurgency engulfing Afghanistan will be limited, an analyst and military officers said.

Mullah Dadullah's death may see some fighters give up their guns but its impact will be largely confined to Helmand province where he was based.

"There were people who were with Dadullah," analyst Wadir Safi said Sunday, after the government and NATO-led forces confirmed the commander had been killed in the southern province.

"If they were not Dadullah, I'm sure they have learnt to be Dadullah. They can just take over. He's gone but his men are still there," said Safi, a former government minister who now teaches politics at Kabul University.

Dadullah, aged about 40, is the most senior Taleban commander to be killed since the hardline regime was toppled nearly six years ago.

Like other top leaders of the Taleban and its Al-Qaeda allies, Dadullah had managed to evade thousands of foreign troops, representing the military might of the West, who are propping up the fragile Afghan government.

But on Friday his corpse was discovered among 10 others on a battlefield in Helmand. The Defense Ministry said it was found in insurgency-hit Sangin district while the Interior Ministry and NATO said he was killed in Grishk.

Dadullah's removal may bring some fighters to the negotiating table, Safi said. Military forces are redoubling their efforts in Helmand and scores of rebels have been killed in Operation Achilles, launched early March.

"If there are some elements with a desire for peace talks with the government in Dadullah's front who were fearing to express themselves in his presence, no doubt they would express themselves now," he said. Otherwise, "we can say that his death will not affect the insurgency."

But the removal of Dadullah's firm hand could provoke rivalries among Taliban commanders in Helmand, said Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi.

"He was a key Taleban figure who had the ability to center Taleban efforts under one single command," he said.

"We know that there are already some rivalries among Taleban commanders in that (Helmand) region and Dadullah's absence will intensify this. "This will lead to some Taliban figures joining the government ranks." NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) acknowledged in a statement Sunday that Dadullah "will most certainly be replaced." However, spokesman Major John Thomas told AFP that the loss of "Someone with that much history and experience in leading an insurgency and contributing to instability and terrorism," is a serious blow "because it is going to take some time to find someone to replace him."

On Monday, Afghan media hailed the killing as a boost for the security forces of embattled President Hamid Karzai and a serious setback for the rebels.

"Mullah Dadullah's death was a great success for the security forces and a major blow for the Taleban," government-run daily Hiwad said in its editorial.

"Now the security forces and NATO troops must intensify their efforts," said Islah daily.

Two months before his death, Dadullah acknowledged the superior strength of foreign forces in a telephone interview with AFP, but said he was undaunted.

"No one in the world has better weapons than NATO," he told an AFP reporter who had spoken to him several times and knew his voice.

"They have got better weapons, but we will defeat them with the power of faith and belief," he said.

"The entire nation is with us: the people give us food, fruit and money. The people are fed up with infidel, invading troops and their puppets," he said. "We have enough men to fight this battle."