Al-Qaeda's South Asia chief Asim Omar killed in Afghanistan

Afghan officials confirmed on Tuesday that the leader of Al-Qaeda's South Asian branch was killed in a US-Afghan joint raid in southern Afghanistan in September. Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) released a statement saying Asim Omar, a “Pakistani national and member of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent,” was killed in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province during a raid on September 23.

"#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," NDS tweeted.

1/2: BREAKING: #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. pic.twitter.com/sFKi38M6MC — NDS Afghanistan (@NDSAfghanistan) October 8, 2019

TOLO news reported that Omar was killed along with six other “Al Qaeda members,” who had been embedded inside a “Taliban compound” in Musa Qala. 

Meanwhile, Laurel Miller, Director of the Crisis Group’s Asia Program, has said that the time has come to verify Taliban’s commitment to severe ties with the terrorist groups.

“I would expect one of the main points of the preliminary peace agreement between the US and the Taliban would be to elicit a commitment from the Taliban to break those ties; it’s a commitment that would have to be verified,” she was quoted as saying by TOLO news.