A top al-Qaeda leader was killed in a joint US-Afghan military operation last month, says Afghanistan’s intelligence agency.

Asim Umar, the head of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), died in a raid on a Taliban compound in Helmand province on 23 September, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said.

At least 40 civilians were reported to have been killed in the same operation.

The US and al-Qaeda have not confirmed Umar’s death.

In a statement shared on Twitter on Tuesday, the NDS said the joint US-Afghan raid took place at a compound in the “Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala” district, where Umar and other AQIS members “had been embedded”.