Thursday, April 27, 2017
By
Syed Arfeen

Key AQIS leaders killed by US forces in Afghanistan

By
Syed Arfeen
|

KARACHI: Key leaders of the defunct organisation, Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), were killed in Zabul and Kandahar, Afghanistan.

 

The announcement was made by the AQIS ameer Maulana Asim Umar on Wednesday, April 26.

In his statement, AQIS leader disclosed that the spokesperson, Usama Ibrahim alias Usama Mehmood, was killed during a US operation in September 2016, on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha.

Mehmood was looking after affairs of As-Sahab, the propaganda wing of al-Qaeda. He was in-charge of As-Sahab Urdu and was responsible for issuing al-Qaeda statements, audios and videos in the same language.

The spokesperson never showed his face like Asim Umar and the deputy ameer of AQIS Ustaad Ahmed Farooq, who was killed during a drone strike in North Waziristan Agency in January 2015.

Mehmood was also part of a video released by As-Sahab about the Dockyard attack in September 2014, however, his face was blurred. He belonged to federal capital of Pakistan, Islamabad.

Umar disclosed that the Head of Bangladesh affairs, Tariq was killed in a US raid in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Others who were killed along with Head of Bangladesh affairs were Qari Abdul Aziz, Yaqoob, Asadullah, and Abu Ibrahim.

An Indian national and a resident of Hyderabad Dakkan, Qari Umar alias Qari Hammad was also neutralised in US forces’ Qandhar operation.

During his statement, AQIS Ameer Maulana Asim Umar disclosed that the spokesperson, Usama Ibrahim alias Usama Mehmood, was killed during a United States forces operation in September 2016 on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha. 

Mehmood was looking after affairs of As-Sahab, the propaganda wing of al-Qaeda. He was in-charge of As-Sahab Urdu and was responsible for issuing al-Qaeda statements in the same language.

The spokesperson never showed his face like Asim Umar and Ustaad Ahmed Farooq, the deputy ameer of AQIS who was killed during a drone strike in North Waziristan Agency in January 2015. Mehmood was also present in a video released by As-Sahab about the Dockyard attack of September 2014, but his face was blurred. He belonged to federal capital of Pakistan, Islamabad.