Afghan special forces take out al-Qa’ida chief Masri

Afghan special forces have killed a high-ranking al-Qa’ida leader wanted by the US, Afghanistan’s intelligence service says.

One of the wounded irom the Kabul suicide attack on Saturday. Picture: AFP

Afghan special forces have killed a high-ranking al-Qa’ida leader who was also wanted by the US, Afghanistan’s intelligence service said on ­Sunday.

Abu Muhsin al-Masri, an Egyptian believed to be the No 2 for the Islamist militant group in the Indian sub-continent, was targeted in central Ghazni province, Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security said in a tweet. It did not provide further details about the operation or when it was carried out.

Masri, who went by the name Husam Abd-al-Ra’uf, was on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. A US warrant for his arrest was issued in December 2018, after he was charged with providing support and resources to a foreign terrorist organisation and plotting to kill US nationals, according to the FBI.

Husam Abd-al-Ra'uf’s picture on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list.

Masri’s killing comes as peace talks continue in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government in a bid to end the long-running war.

The negotiations were organised after a deal between the US and the Taliban in February, under which the militants agreed to not allow Afghan soil to be used by foreign extremists. The ­regime’s sheltering of al-Qa’ida was the original reason for the US invasion of ­Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

News of Masri’s demise came after Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack near an education centre in Kabul on Saturday that killed at least 18 people.

Violence on the ground has spiked in recent weeks despite the peace talks in Qatar.

The suicide attack, which also left 57 wounded, happened in the late afternoon at the centre in a western district of Kabul.

“A suicide bomber wanted to enter the education centre,” interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said. “But he was identified by the centre’s guards, after which he detonated his explosives in an alley.”

A suicide bomber “set off towards a gathering … in Kabul, where he detonated his explosives jacket” in the crowd, ISIS said in a statement posted on its social media channels.

Witness Ali Reza said the blast sent dust and smoke swirling all around him. “I was standing about 100m from the centre when a big blast knocked me down,” said Mr Reza, who had gone to hospital with his cousin, who was wounded in the blast.

“Dust and smoke were all around me. All those killed and wounded were students who wanted to enter the centre.”

AFP