KABUL, Oct 25 — Afghan special forces have killed a high-ranking Al-Qaeda leader who was also wanted by the United States, Afghanistan’s intelligence service said late yesterday.

Abu Muhsin al-Masri, an Egyptian national believed to be the number-two 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.

Al-Masri, who also goes by the name Husam Abd-al-Ra’uf, is 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.

Al-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 United States and the Taliban in February, under which the militants agreed to not allow Afghan soil to be used by foreign extremists.

The Taliban government’s sheltering of Al Qaeda was the original reason for the US invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks. — AFP