Local reports often attribute the eliminations to “unidentified gunmen” or mysterious circumstances.
Amir Hamza, a founding member of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has been shot by unknown gunmen in Lahore. Hamza suffered bullet injuries in an attack by motorcycle-borne unidentified gunmen on Thursday, police said. He is currently being treated in a hospital.
In the past two to three years, a significant number of India-designated “most-wanted” terrorists and high-ranking commanders of groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) have been eliminated in Pakistan or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The eliminations have often been attributed by local reports to “unidentified gunmen” or mysterious circumstances.
Terrorists Killed By “Unknown Gunmen”
Just last month, Muhammad Tahir Anwar died in Pakistan, reportedly under mysterious circumstances. He was Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar’s elder brother. He played a key role within Jaish-e-Mohammed and was actively involved in the terror outfit’s operations.
In March last year, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, Abu Qatal or Qatal Sindhi, was also killed by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s Jhelum Sindh. He was a close aide to the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Hafiz Saeed. He was allegedly the mastermind behind the Reasi attack in 2024 in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed nine people and injured 33 others.
The pattern of such killings became evident in 2023, following the elimination of seven terrorists over a span of seven months.
One of the seven eliminations of these was Paramjit Singh Panjwar, chief of the Khalistan Commando Force, who had long been involved in arms smuggling, drug trafficking, and extremist operations. On May 6, 2023, while taking a routine walk in Lahore’s Johar Town, two motorcycle-borne assailants approached and shot him dead.
“Unknown men” killed Mufti Qaiser Farooq, another close associate of Hafiz Saeed, in Karachi. The 30-year-old was shot near a religious institution in the Samanabad area in October 2023. Farooq suffered bullet wounds in the back and died during treatment in a hospital.
Shahid Latif, the alleged mastermind of the 2016 Pathankot terror attack, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s Sialkot in October 2023. The 54-year-old was on the list of India’s ‘most-wanted terrorists’.
Khwaja Shahid, also known as Mia Mujahid, a high-ranking commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, was found beheaded near the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in November 2023. He was reportedly kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from his home in the Neelum Valley a few days before his death. His decapitated body showed signs of severe torture.
Akram Khan Ghazi, a top commander of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, was shot dead in November 2023 by unidentified attackers on motorcycles. Ghazi was a key figure in the LeT recruitment cell and was known for his anti-India speeches and radicalising youth for infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir.
