AQIS Terrorist Killed in US Drone Attack
NEW DELHI: Al-Qaeda terrorist and senior member of the central council of newly-formed al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Sheikh Imran Ali Siddiqi alias Haji Shaikh Waliullah, was killed in a US drone attack in Tirah Valley, North Waziristan, on Saturday.
AQIS spokesperson Usama Mahmood in a series of tweets on micro- blogging website confirmed the killing of Waliullah in an attack on compound used as safe house by al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists. Three other suspected AQIS and Taliban operatives were also killed in the attack. AQIS released the photographs of Waliullah with a message from AQIS chief Asim Umar.
Mahmood said Waliullah, who was indoctrinated in jihad in 1990, had spent eight years in jail in connection with attacks on US Consulate in Karachi. Mahmood also called for alliance with terrorist outfit operating in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) for waging jihad.
“He (Waliullah) has been engaged in jihad since 1990. The mujahideen brethren were present atop a mountain when the drones rained missiles, martyring them at the scene,” Mahmood tweeted.
Mahmood also added that the chief of AQIS, Asim Omar, congratulated operatives on the ‘martyrdom’ of Waliullah. “We Mujahideen are sacrificing lives for the protection of life and property of Muslims,” AQIS chief Omar said.
AQIS is learnt to have recruited terror modules from Pakistan, India and Afghanistan in its fold to carry out terrorist activities in Indian subcontinent. A second attack in Shawal valley killed Taliban commander Muhammad Mustafa. Shawal valley houses terrorists from AQIS and Afghan Taliban.
The new branch of al-Qaeda in September tried to hijack Pakistani warship PNS Zulfiqar to launch an attack against the US and Indian Navy fleet.
In a statement on September 16, AQIS had confirmed that the terror outfit had infiltrated the Pakistan Navy and most of the attackers were actually insiders-commissioned officers of the Pakistan Navy.
The AQIS was luanched in September by al-Qaeda’s Ayman al Zawahri who called for jihad in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmadabad and Kashmir.