Pakistan: Key LeT operator and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed's close aide Abu Qatal shot dead

Islamabad: Abu Qatal, said to be a key commander of banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and a close aide of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, has been shot dead with his armed guard by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan's Punjab province, media reports said on Sunday.

Abu Qatal, whose real name was Zia ur Rehman, was travelling in his black jeep when the gun attack took place on Mangla-Jhelum Road. Both Abu Qatal and his guard died on the spot, The News reported.

The assailants reportedly rode a motorcycle and opened fire at the jeep.

Sources suggest that a suspected assailant was apprehended soon after the attack, but there has been no official confirmation of the arrest.efforts.

Jhelum district police officer Tariq Aziz Sandho was not available for the comment, GeoTV reported.

Sources claimed Abu Qatal, LeT's most notorious operative, was known to have planned and led multiple attacks in Jammu and Kashmir including the June 9, 2024, ambush on a bus carrying pilgrims coming back from the Shiv Khori temple in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district.

It was Saeed, who reportedly appointed Abu Qatal as Lashkar's Chief Operational Commander. and regularly passed on instructions to him to carry out subversive activities in Karhmir.

Abu Qatal's name also figured in the chargesheet drawn IP by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the 2023 Rajouri attack.