KABUL: The leader of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) was killed in a joint US-Afghan operation last month, Afghan officials confirmed Tuesday.

Asim Umar, a Pakistani citizen, "was killed along with six other AQIS members, most of them Pakistani", in southern Helmand province, the National Directorate of Security said on Twitter, adding that Umar had been "embedded" in a Taliban compound.