The National Directorate of Security issued a statement confirming the death of Asim Omar, a “member of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent,” killed in an operation by Afghan forces in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province.

According to the NDS, Omar was killed along with six other “Al Qaeda members,” who had been embedded inside a “Taliban compound” in Musa Qala.

Although the NDS originally reported that Omar was from Pakistan, other sources, including the US Treasury, list Omar as being an Indian national who had spent time in Pakistan (as well as Bangledesh and Afghanistan).

Meanwhile, Laurel Miller, Director of the Crisis Group’s Asia Program, has said that the Taliban’s commitment to severing ties with the terrorist groups needs verification.

“I would expect one of the main points of the preliminary peace agreement between the US and the Taliban would be to elicit a commitment from the Taliban to break those ties; it’s a commitment that would have to be verified,” she said.