KABUL (AFP) - The leader of Al-Qaeda's South Asian branch was killed in a US-Afghan joint raid in southern Afghanistan last month, Afghan officials confirmed on Tuesday (Oct 8).

Asim Umar, who led Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) from its inception in 2014, was killed during a raid on Sept 23 on a Taleban compound in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province.

The Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said Umar was a Pakistani citizen, though some reports claim he was born in India.

He "was #killed along with six other AQIS members, most of them Pakistani", the NDS said on Twitter, adding that Umar had been "embedded" with the Taleban.

The raid was part of a lengthy and confusing overnight operation from Sept 22-23 for which the US provided air support.

Authorities said they would investigate reports that 40 civilians, including children, were killed in an air strike during the operation.

The NDS said that among the six other AQIS members killed in the raid was a man identified as "Raihan", a courier for Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

US Forces-Afghanistan declined to comment.

Under a stalled withdrawal plan negotiated between the US and the Taleban, Washington agreed to pull troops from Afghanistan if the insurgents abide by security guarantees and cut all ties with Al-Qaeda.