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New Delhi: Is Hafiz Saeed finally dead?
Though some media houses in Pakistan have claimed that the designated terrorist and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder was shot dead by unknown gunmen at Jhelum, in the Punjab province of Pakistan, it has now come to light that his close aide Abu Qatal was the man killed.
Qatal alias Zia-ur-Rehman, was the mastermind behind the heinous Rajouri attacks of 2023 that left seven persons, including two children, dead. On January 1 that year, LeT terrorists attacked the Dhangri village in Rajouri, Jammu, and shot dead five innocents. An improvised explosive device (IED), the terrorists had planted, exploded the next morning, killing two children.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) also discovered that Qatal was also behind the Reasi attack of 2024 that left nine people, including seven pilgrims dead. The pilgrims were returning from the Shiv Khori Temple on June 8, 2024, when their bus was attacked by gunmen. The driver was killed and the bus fell into a gorge. The terrorists continued to fire on the trapped passengers till security forces arrived. Rescuers found nine people dead and 41 injured.
Qatal is known to have infiltrated into Jammu in 2000 to carry out terror strikes. He left in 2005. Thereafter, he along with two other Lashkar operatives, recruited, trained and sent terrorists across to India on a regular basis.
The NIA also claimed that Qatal was behind the creation of front organisations, such as the People’s Anti-Fascist Force (PAFF) and The Resistance Group (TRG). These organisations would take responsibility for terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir and the blame would shift from outfits like the LeT or Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Qatal was also the head of the LeT’s Khuiratta Dett, based in the Kotli district of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
According to sources in Pakistan, Qatal was travelling in the Jhelum area of Pakistan’s Punjab around 7 pm on Saturday when he was attacked. The gunmen apparently fired 15-20 rounds with automatic weapons, killing Qatal and one of his security guards on the spot.