Al-Qaeda's south Asia chief killed in Afghanistan

123rf

A top al-Qaeda leader was killed in a joint US-Afghan military operation last month.

That's according to the country's intelligence agency, which said Asim Umar, the head of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), died during a raid on a Taliban compound in Helmand province on September 23.

He "was #killed along with six other AQIS members, most of them Pakistani", the NDS said on Twitter, adding that Umar had been "embedded" with the Taliban.

It added that an investigation into reports of 40 civilian deaths during the operation is underway. 

The US and al-Qaeda have not confirmed the report, but the Taliban dismissed it as "enemy-fabricated propaganda". They alleged that the raid "only caused heavy civilian losses".

 

More from International News

  • US immigration agent fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis

    A US immigration agent has shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her car in Minneapolis on Wednesday during an immigration enforcement surge, according to local and federal officials, the latest violence in President Donald Trump's nationwide crackdown on migrants.

  • US seizes another tanker tied to Venezuela as Trump widens oil push

    The US has seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, one sailing under Russia's flag, as part of President Donald Trump's aggressive push to dictate oil flows in the Americas and force Venezuela's socialist government to become an ally.

  • Trump withdraws US from dozens of international and UN entities

    US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States would withdraw from dozens of international and UN entities, including a key climate treaty and a body that promotes gender equality and women's empowerment, because they "operate contrary to US national interests."

  • US seizes Russian-flagged oil tanker linked to Venezuela

    The US seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was being shadowed by a Russian submarine on Wednesday, after pursuing it for more than two weeks across the Atlantic as part of Washington's efforts to block Venezuelan oil exports.

  • Power restored in Berlin after longest blackout since World War Two

    Electricity was restored to southwestern Berlin on Wednesday after a suspected arson attack on a power station by leftist activists caused a blackout for tens of thousands of households, the longest outage in the German capital since World War Two.

News