Afghan spy agency says top Al-Qaeda leader killed in joint US raid

This file photo released by Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security on Oct. 8, 2019 shows Asim Omar, slain leader of Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent. (Handout/NDS Afghanistan)

• Asim Omar led Al-Qaeda’s network in the Indian subcontinent
• Spy agency described Omar as a Pakistani national, said six others killed in same operation

KABUL: Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency said on Tuesday a top regional leader of the Al-Qaeda had been killed in a joint raid led by United States and Afghan troops in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province last month.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said Asim Omar, a leader of the network for the Indian subcontinent, was killed along with other members of Al-Qaeda in the Musa Qala district of Helmand, a main bastion of Taliban insurgents.
“NDS can now confirm the death of Asim Omar, leader of Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS), in a joint US-Afghan led operation,” the spy agency said in a statement.
It described Omar as a Pakistani national, and said six others had been killed in the same operation, including Raihan, Omar’s courier to Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al-Qaeda.
In September 2014, Al-Zawahiri announced the creation of AQIS in a video message and said Asim Umar would be its top commander.
The US attacked Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks in which Al-Qaeda hijackers slammed airplanes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, killing almost 3,000 people. The US-led coalition ousted the Taliban from power for harboring Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and drove Al-Qaeda’s leaders, including Osama bin Laden, to Pakistan.
Al Qaeda has been decimated over the years. But US officials estimate there are still small numbers of Al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, some with deep ties to the Taliban insurgency. More are across the border in Pakistan.
Many US officials doubt the Taliban could be relied upon to prevent Al-Qaeda from again plotting attacks against the United States from Afghan soil. That was one of the main US demands during peace negotiations with the Taliban that US President Trump declared “dead” last month.