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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Horse injured, vehicles damaged as billboard collapses in Pune due to strong winds
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Pune (PTI): A horse was injured and a few vehicles were damaged after a hoarding collapsed due to strong winds in Maharashtra’s Pune city, police said.
The billboard crashed to the ground between 5 pm and 6 pm on Saturday outside a wedding hall near Kavdi Pat toll booth on the Pune-Solapur Highway, an official said.
The incident comes days after a giant illegal billboard in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area collapsed on a petrol pump due to gusty winds and unseasonal rains, killing 16 persons and injuring 75.
Citing preliminary information about the incident in Pune, the police on Saturday said the hoarding collapsed due to strong winds and it fell on a horse, and a few vehicles, including one brought by a band party, outside the Gulmohar Lawns wedding hall.
The injured horse was rescued and taken for treatment, the official said.
