Top al-Qaeda commander killed in joint action: NDS

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Afghan and coalition forces killed 81 al-Qaeda members including its top commander in Afghanistan during separate operations, Afghan spy agency claimed Tuesday.

The al-Qaeda’s top commander for Afghanistan Omar Khetab a.k.a Omar Mansour and 80 other members of the network were killed during operations jointly conducted by personnel of National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghan army and NATO-led Resolute Support Forces in the Ghazni, Zabul and Paktiya provinces, the NDS said in a statement.

It said 27 al-Qaeda members were also detained and their seven hideouts destroyed during the operations, adding four other commanders of the network, Qasim a.k.a Khurram Kiyani, Hasan, Hamza and Junaid and al-Qaeda military official Mustafa and three Taliban were among the dead.

The NDS said Omar Khetab was al-Qaeda’s top commander in Afghanistan and second most senior commander after Asim Omar in South Asia and Indian sub-continent.

The NDS did not disclose exact date and location of the operations. It said al-Qaeda has been taking direct part in fighting against Afghan and international forces in Afghanistan since 2015 and besides advising the Taliban also provide training and arms to their fighters.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the NDS claim, saying they had no foreign in their ranks.

“There is no national of any foreign country in areas under our control. No one has suffered such casualties in the past few days. I reject this claim,” Mujahid told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).

Maulana Asim Omar said to be an Indian national was appointed by al-Qaeda Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri as the al-Qaeda commander for South Asia and Indian sub-continent in 2014.