The Taliban have refuted the reports that a leader of al-Qaeda (terrorist organization, banned in Russia) had been killed during Afghan forces' operation in the province of Helmand as "propaganda," which was allegedly meant to conceal "heavy civilian losses" inflicted by the attack
KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th October, 2019) The Taliban have refuted the reports that a leader of al-Qaeda (terrorist organization, banned in Russia) had been killed during Afghan forces' operation in the province of Helmand as "propaganda," which was allegedly meant to conceal "heavy civilian losses" inflicted by the attack.On Tuesday, the Afghan National Directorate of Security said that Asim Omar, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, had been eliminated in an Afghan-US raid on a Taliban compound in Helmand on September 23.
"Officials of the stooge Kabul administration claimed to have killed a leader associated with Al Qaeda organization during the raid and bombing of a wedding in Musa Kala district, Helmand. We categorically reject this claim by Kabul officials and consider it a part of enemy fabricated propaganda," the Taliban said in a statement, posted on Tuesday.
According to the movement, the truth is that the operation only caused "heavy civilian losses."
A source in the Afghan National Directorate of Security Forces told Sputnik that Omar was killed in the raid together with his friends. Omar's family, according to the source, has been arrested by the directorate.
The Taliban have been fighting the Afghan government for years. The radical movement has also been accused of harboring terrorists on the territory it controls.
