Afghanistan says AQIS leader Asim Omar killed in raid

Afghan intelligence on Tuesday confirmed the death of Asim Omar, leader of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), in a joint US-Afghan raid on a Taliban compound last month.

"NDS can now confirm the death of Asim Omar, leader of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), in a joint US-Afghan raid on a Taliban compound in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on Sep. 23," Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) tweeted.

The NDS said that Omar, a Pakistani citizen, was killed along with six other AQIS members, most of them Pakistanis. Among them was Raihan, Omar's courier to Al Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri.

They had been embedded inside the Taliban compound in the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala.