Afghanistan. Interview: Security forces killed Man # 2 in al-Qaeda

Afghan security forces killed one of the most important members of al-Qaeda – believed to be its deputy chief Abu Muhsin al-Masri, who was on the US FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists, Afghan intelligence NDS reported on Saturday.

Al-Masri has been accused in the United States of providing material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization and of conspiracy to kill US citizens.

An Islamist was killed during a special operation in the Ghazni province in eastern Afghanistan, NDS said. Intelligence added that al-Masri was the highest leader of the organization in the Indian subcontinent.

According to the FBI, an al-Qaeda agent, who also appeared under the name of Husam Abd-al-Ra’uf, was an Egyptian citizen.

In September, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that fewer than 200 al-Qaeda agents remained in Afghanistan.

October marks 19 years since the US invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime, hiding al-Qaeda militants who committed the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001.

The United States began to gradually withdraw its troops from Afghanistan following a landmark agreement with the Taliban in February this year. In the Qatar capital, Doha, an agreement was signed between the US and the Taliban to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan in return for initiating peace talks with the central government in Kabul and guarantees that Afghanistan will not be a refuge for terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda.

The NATO Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan currently numbers 12,000. soldiers from 38 countries, including 8.6 thousand Americans; still last year US soldiers were there 14 thousand. In early October, US President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by Christmas, which is faster than the US-Taliban agreement provides. However, he did not say whether it was the US forces deployed as part of a NATO mission.

Despite the intra-Afghan peace talks launched in September between the Kabul government and the Taliban, fighting between the two sides continues. In recent weeks, more than 100 people on both sides, as well as dozens of civilians, have died in the clashes.

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