Tag Archives: Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent




Veteran Al Qaeda leader killed in western Afghanistan

Mohammad Hanif was involved in the 2002 assassination attempt on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the suicide attack on the U.S. Consulate in Karachi that same year. He was killed in Farah province. But the Taliban somehow continues to maintain that Al Qaeda isn’t in Afghanistan.


Analysis: Don’t trust estimates of Al Qaeda’s strength in Afghanistan

The U.S. government, military, and intelligence services have provided inaccurate assessments of Al Qaeda’s strength in Afghanistan for more than a decade. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued that tradition by recent regurgitating that Al Qaeda has fewer than 200 fighters in the country. This estimate, like previous ones, should not be trusted.








Afghan intelligence confirms death of AQIS emir

Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security claims it has confirmed that Asim Umar, the emir of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, was killed during a Sept. 23 raid in Helmand province. Other key AQIS leaders were also killed in the fighting.




Taliban destroy hospital in truck bombing

The Taliban has warned civilians to stay away from places near government facilitates, including election sites, as it says these targets are fair game. However, given the scarcity of medical facilities, it is impossible for Afghan civilians to avoid hospitals such as the one in Qalat.







Al Qaeda-linked jihadi leader killed in Kashmir

Indian forces have killed Zakir Musa, who led the al Qaeda-linked Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH). Musa and his men have attempted to poach from Pakistani-backed jihadist groups, while also competing with an upstart Islamic State presence. Musa’s motto was “Sharia or Martyrdom.”







Al Qaeda’s alliance with the Taliban ‘remains firm,’ UN says

According to a new report published by the United Nations, al Qaeda’s “alliance with the Taliban and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan remains firm,” as al Qaeda and the Taliban are “closely allied.” Some of the UN’s Member States consider al Qaeda’s global network to be a bigger long-term threat than the Islamic State.


Foreign fighters involved in assault on Ghazni, Afghan defense minister says

Al Qaeda has long operated in Ghazni province, the site of a large-scale Taliban offensive in recent days. In 2010, Osama bin Laden ordered his men to relocate from northern Pakistan into Ghazni and other Afghan provinces. Bin Laden’s lieutenant also wrote in mid-2010 that al Qaeda had “very strong military activity” in at least eight Afghan provinces, including Ghazni. More recently, American and Afghan forces have targeted al Qaeda operatives in the province.