New Delhi (NVI): National Directorate of Security (NDS), the intelligence and security service of Afghanistan, today said that a senior leader of AQIS (al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent), identified as Mohammad Hanif alias Abdullah, was killed in an operation in Bakwa district of Farah province.
Taking to Twitter, NDS said that Hanif was from Karachi in Pakistan and was given a safe haven by the Taliban in Farah province in western Afghanistan.
“Mohammad Hanif aka Abdullah, a senior leader of AQIS, was killed during an NDS operation in Bakwa,Farah where he was given a safe haven and protection by TB. Hanif, from Karachi, Pakistan, was a very close aide to Asim Omar He also was deputy Amir for AQIS for a period,” the NDS tweeted.
Mohammad Hanif aka Abdullah,a senior leader of AQIS, was killed during an NDS operation in Bakwa,Farah where he was given a safe haven and protection by TB. Hanif, from Karachi, Pakistan, was a very close aide to Asim Omar He also was deputy Amir for AQIS for a period
— NDS Afghanistan (@NDSAfghanistan) November 10, 2020
Al-Qaeda has openly acknowledged its cordial relations with the Taliban in the past.
Hanif was a very close aide to Asim Omar, AQIS leader who was killed in a joint US-Afghan military raid in the Afghan Province of Helmand On 23 Sep, 2019. He was also deputy ‘Amir’ for AQIS for a period.
Abdullah’s killing takes place amid the ongoing intra-Afghan peace process that began in Doha in September. Despite the talks, fighting between Taliban and Afghan government forces has continued in recent weeks.
Before this, on October 24-25 night, Abu Muhsen Almisry, a key al-Qaeda leader for Indian sub-continent, was killed during a special operation by Afghan security forces in Ghazni province in eastern Afghanistan.
Almisry was reportedly one of the most wanted individuals on the list of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
-ARK
