South Asia region Al-Qaeda chief killed in Afghanistan
Kabul, Oct 8: The leader of Al-Qaeda's South Asian branch was killed in a US-Afghan joint raid in southern Afghanistan last month, Afghan officials confirmed Tuesday.
Asim Umar, who led Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) from its inception in 2014, was killed during a raid September 23 on a Taliban compound in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province.
The Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said Umar was a Pakistani citizen, though some reports claim he was born in India.
He "was #killed along with six other AQIS members, most of them Pakistani", the NDS said on Twitter, adding that Umar had been "embedded" with the Taliban.
The raid was part of a lengthy and confusing overnight operation from September 22-23 for which the US provided air support.
Authorities said they would investigate reports that 40 civilians, including children, were killed in an air strike during the operation.
The NDS said that among the six other AQIS members killed in the raid was a man identified as "Raihan", a courier for Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
US Forces-Afghanistan declined to comment.
Under a stalled withdrawal plan negotiated between the US and the Taliban, Washington agreed to pull troops from Afghanistan if the insurgents abide by security guarantees and cut all ties with Al-Qaeda.
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A R Rahman to receive Lakshminarayana International Award
Chennai (PTI): Music composer A R Rahman will be conferred with the Lakshminarayana International Award this year, the organisers of the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival have announced.
The award, instituted to honour artists for their contributions to the field of arts, will be presented to Rahman at a special ceremony on December 15, according to a press release.
The event will serve as the curtain raiser to the 35th edition of the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival and will be held at Rasika Ranjani Sabha here.
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Rahman, a two-time Academy Award winner and one of India’s most celebrated music composers, has been credited with transforming the soundscape of Indian cinema. With over 150 million records sold and more than 100 film soundtracks and albums to his name, his work spans landmark films such as "Roja", "Bombay", "Dil Se", "Taal", "Lagaan", "Slumdog Millionaire" and "127 Hours".
Trained in Western classical music at Trinity College, London, Rahman established the Panchathan Record Inn in Chennai, one of India’s most advanced recording studios. He made a historic debut with "Roja", which earned him the National Award — the first of seven, the highest number received by any Indian composer.
Rahman is also a recipient of the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
