Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Abu Qatal, a close confidant of 26/11 Mumbai terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed, was apparently gunned down in Pakistan by unidentified attackers. India Today’s Sunday report states that Qatal was killed despite having very tight security cover from the Pakistan Army, including Lashkar terrorists as well as plainclothes Pakistani soldiers being part of his security entourage.
The attack is said to have happened around 7 pm in the Jhelum area near Zeenat Hotel, which is near Dina Punjab University. Sources informed India Today that Qatal was on the move with his security team when assailants fired gunshots, firing 15-20 shots. The attack killed Qatal and instantaneously one security guard, and another guard was critically injured.
Abu Qatal, whose name was Zia-ur-Rehman in real life, led the Khureta launchpad in PoK. He was behind the 2023 Rajouri attack that killed seven people and was also instrumental in the June 9 attack on a pilgrims’ bus from Shiv Khori temple in Reasi, where ten people lost their lives. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had named him in a charge sheet filed in February 2024.
The terrorists formed proxy terror groups named People’s Anti-Fascist Force (PAFF) and The Resistant Force (TRF) to cover up the activities of well-established terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. PAFF was banned as a terrorist organization by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs on January 7, 2023.
