Al-Qaeda Indian branch confirm US drones kill 2 leaders in Pakistan

Published April 12, 2015
In this still image from video obtained September 11, 2012, courtesy of the Site Intelligence Group shows Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a video, speaking from an undisclosed location, released by Al-Qaeda’s media arm, as-Sahab, for the eleventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. — Photo by AFP/FILE
In this still image from video obtained September 11, 2012, courtesy of the Site Intelligence Group shows Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a video, speaking from an undisclosed location, released by Al-Qaeda’s media arm, as-Sahab, for the eleventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. — Photo by AFP/FILE

ISLAMABAD: A spokesman for al-Qaeda's new Indian branch says US drone strikes in Pakistan have killed two of its leaders.

In an audio message released Sunday, Usama Mahmood identified the dead as deputy chief Ahmed Farooq and Qari Imran, in charge of the group's Afghan affairs.

Mahmood says a Jan. 5 drone strike in North Waziristan killed Imran, while a later drone strike killed Farooq.

Read: Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri announced the creation of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent in September.

The terror group increasingly finds itself overshadowed internationally by the self-styled Islamic State group, which holds a third of Iraq and Syria in its self-declared caliphate.

Opinion

Editorial

Energy inflation
Updated 23 May, 2024

Energy inflation

The widening gap between the haves and have-nots is already tearing apart Pakistan’s social fabric.
Culture of violence
23 May, 2024

Culture of violence

WHILE political differences are part of the democratic process, there can be no justification for such disagreements...
Flooding threats
23 May, 2024

Flooding threats

WITH temperatures in GB and KP forecasted to be four to six degrees higher than normal this week, the threat of...
Bulldozed bill
Updated 22 May, 2024

Bulldozed bill

Where once the party was championing the people and their voices, it is now devising new means to silence them.
Out of the abyss
22 May, 2024

Out of the abyss

ENFORCED disappearances remain a persistent blight on fundamental human rights in the country. Recent exchanges...
Holding Israel accountable
22 May, 2024

Holding Israel accountable

ALTHOUGH the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor wants arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime...