The leader of the South Asian branch of Al Qaeda was killed in a joint raid between the United States and Afghanistan in southern Afghanistan last month, Afghan officials confirmed Tuesday.
Asim Umar, who led Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) since its inception in 2014, was killed during a September 23 raid in a Taliban complex in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province.
"He was killed along with six other AQIS members," the Afghan National Security Directorate said on Twitter, adding that Umar had been "embedded" with the Taliban.
The raid was part of a long and confusing operation during the night of September 22-23 for which the United States provided air support.
Authorities said they would investigate reports that 40 civilians, including children, died in an air raid during the operation.
The NDS said that among the other six AQIS members killed in the raid was a man identified as "Raihan," a messenger from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
US-Afghanistan forces declined to comment.
Under a stagnant retirement plan negotiated between the US UU. And the Taliban, Washington agreed to withdraw troops from Afghanistan if the insurgents respect security guarantees and cut off all ties with al Qaeda.
The United States and the Taliban had been negotiating for a year to reach an agreement that would have cut US forces in Afghanistan and could have paved the way for a reduction in violence, but President Donald Trump overturned that agreement last month, citing Taliban violence.
Even if the agreement had been finalized, observers doubted whether the Taliban would really separate from Al Qaeda.
The United States invaded Afghanistan after the Taliban refused to hand over al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the attacks of September 11, 2001 against the United States.
The middle-aged Umar was relatively unknown when he was elected to lead the newly created AQIS in 2014.
The jihadist branch was established to try to wake up combatants in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Umar, an alias, was named by al-Zawahiri in a video message.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1509727/south-asia-region-al-qaeda-chief-killed-in-afghanistan-officials