Afghan intelligence NDS claim killing Al Qaeda top commanders, bases destroyed

Afghan intelligence NDS claim killing Al Qaeda top commanders, bases destroyed

KABUL - Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), on Tuesday said that scores of Al Qaeda figures, including senior leader Omar Khetab, have been killed in joint operations with coalition forces in the country's eastern and southern provinces.

In a statement, the NDS said that about 80 terrorists were killed and 27 others arrested in the operations, which also destroyed five Al Qaeda bases in the southern province of Zabul, as well as eastern Ghazni and Paktia provinces.

The statement describes Khetab as the second in command for Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, which seeks to fight the governments of Pakistan, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The NDS statement made no mention of when the operations took place.