Al-Qaeda’s Indian born sub-continent chief, Asim Umar killed in Afghanistan

New Delhi, Oct 09: The chief of the Al-Qaeda in the Sub-Continent (AQIS), Asim Umar was killed in a joint US-Afghan raid. The raid was conducted on a Taliban compound last month, Afghanistan's spy agency announced.

Umar, the Indian born chief of the AQIS was on the radar of the agencies for long. He took over as the chief of the outfit in 2014, the year that it was launched. He was born in Sambal, Uttar Pradesh.

"#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," the National Directorate of Security, the spy agency of Afghanistan tweeted.

Umar was killed with six other AQIS members, most of them Pakistanis. The spy agency said that courier of the Al-Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri too was killed in the strike.

While it was claimed that Asim was a Pakistani national, records state that he was born in Uttar Pradesh. He was, however, carrying a Pakistani identification card at the time of his death.

In 2016, the US state department designated Umar as a terrorist. Further, the outfit too was declared as a terrorist organisation.

Although the AQIS largely remained a non-starter, it had claimed the attacks on a naval dockyard in Karachi and also said that it was involved in the murders of activists and writers in Bangladesh.