Top terror chiefs attend funeral of Pulwama attack mastermind, Hamza Burhan, in Islamabad

Burhan, also known as Arjumand Gulzar Dar and codenamed "Doctor," was shot by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Thursday morning as he stepped out of a private college in Muzaffarabad, where he had been living undercover and working as principal.

The funeral of Hamza Burhan, one of the alleged masterminds behind the 2019 Pulwama attack, drew a gathering of some of Pakistan's most wanted terror figures in Islamabad, with armed militants, senior jihadist leaders and individuals reportedly linked to Pakistan's ISI all seen at the ceremony.

Burhan, also known as Arjumand Gulzar Dar and codenamed "Doctor," was shot by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Thursday morning as he stepped out of a private college in Muzaffarabad, where he had been living undercover and working as principal. He was hit multiple times in the head at close range and died from his wounds. He was buried in Islamabad the following day.

Among those present at the funeral were Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and Al-Badr supremo Bakht Zameen Khan, according to visuals circulating on social media and local reports. Footage from the gathering showed heavily armed individuals carrying AK-47 rifles and other weapons deployed around the burial site, with multiple armed cadres linked to banned terror organisations also visible in the crowd.

Burhan had been designated a terrorist by India's Union Home Ministry in 2022 for his involvement in terror activities across Jammu and Kashmir. Officials say he played a central role in radicalising youth, recruiting operatives, and financing Al-Badr operations from Pakistani soil. Despite carrying an Indian designation, he had spent recent years living quietly in Muzaffarabad, roughly 135 kilometres from Islamabad, under a civilian cover.

The scenes at his funeral are not without precedent. In May 2025, following India's Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which Pakistan-backed militants killed 26 people after asking victims their religion, Pakistani military officers, civil bureaucrats and terror chiefs were seen attending funerals of militants killed in the strikes. Coffins of slain Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed operatives were reportedly draped in the Pakistani flag and given military-style guards of honour in cities including Muridke, Bahawalpur and Muzaffarabad.

The attendance of senior terror operatives and ISI-linked individuals at Burhan's funeral once again raises pointed questions about the relationship between Pakistan's state institutions and the militant networks that have long operated on its soil.

(With IANS inputs)