AQIS claims U.S drone strikes killed around 50 militants over past few months

Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the militant group's South Asia affiliate, has claimed that the United States carried out drone strikes have killed nearly 50 of its members, including two senior members, over the past few months.

AQIS spokesperson Usama Mehmood said in an audio message that senior members Ustad Ahmad Farooq and Qari Imran were killed in separate US drone attacks in North Waziristan in January, The Express Tribune reported.

The spokesperson further said that the drone strikes have mainly targeted mujahideen al-Qaeda, which the security forces had been carried out since June last year in North Waziristan.

While deputy head Ahmad Farooq was killed in the Shawal area of North Waziristan on January 15, Afghanistan al Qaeda in-charge Imran was executed on January 5.

AQIS has been launched in September last year under the leadership of Pakistani Maulvi Muhammad Asim.