BEIJING, April 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Osama bin Laden personally ordered and managed a February suicide attack targeting U.S. vice president Dick Cheney during his visit to Afghanistan, a top Taliban commander said in an interview aired by Al-Jazeera Wednesday.

    Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's main military commander in southern Afghanistan, said Bin Laden was behind the suicide blast that killed 23 people outside the Bagram U.S. military base on Feb. 27, while Cheney was there.

    "You may remember the martyr operation inside the Bagram base, which targeted a senior U.S. official. ... That operation was the result of his wise planning. He (Bin Laden) planned that operation and guided us through it. The operation was a success," said Dadullah, thought to be surrounded by Afghan and NATO forces in the country's Uruzgan province.

    He did not say how he knew bin Laden planned the attack, and it was not clear when the interview took place.

    Dadullah said Osama bin Laden is alive and currently oversees militant activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    "Thank God he is alive. We get updated information about him. Thank God he planned operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan," he said.

    Deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino said it was "an interesting claim but ... I haven't seen any intelligence that would support that."

    (Agencies)