Washington: Ahmed Farouq, an American who died in a US counterterrorism airstrike in January, was the deputy emir of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, or AQIS, a new branch of the terror group, according to a media report.

Two Al Qaeda hostages, Warren Weinstein of the US and Giovanni Lo Porto from Italy, were killed in the same strike, according to CNN. That branch of Al Qaeda made its presence known in September 2014 when its militants infiltrated Pakistan's navy and tried to hijack one of its ships, CNN said citing the SITE Institute.