Top LeT terrorist and Hafiz Saeed's trusted aide Abu Qatal killed in Pak

Lashkar-e-Taiba's most wanted terrorist, Abu Qatal, was murdered in Pakistan on Saturday night. Qatal, a key operative of the terror outfit, was known for planning multiple attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Short

• Qatal planned multiple attacks in Jammu and Kashmir
• Qatal led June 9 attack on pilgrims in Reasi
• NIA charged him for 2023 Rajouri attack

Lashkar-e-Taiba's most wanted terrorist, Abu Qatal, was murdered in Pakistan on Saturday night. Qatal, a key operative of the terror outfit, was known for planning multiple attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to sources, Abu Qatal, whose real name is Zia-ur-Rehman, was travelling with his security guard in the Jhelum area around 7 pm when unknown attackers opened fire. The assailants fired 15 to 20 rounds, killing Abu Qatal and one of his security guards on the spot. Another guard was critically injured.

Abu Qatal was under heavy protection from the Pakistan Army, with both Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists and plainclothes Pakistani military personnel assigned to his security.

The attack took place near Zeenat Hotel, close to Dina Punjab University in the Jhelum area. As Zia-ur-Rehman’s convoy was passing through, unknown gunmen launched a barrage of gunfire.

Abu Qatal, who was a close aide of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, played a crucial role in the June 9 attack on a bus carrying pilgrims returning from the Shiv Khori temple in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district. The attack was orchestrated under Qatal’s leadership.

It was Hafiz Saeed who appointed Abu Qatal as Lashkar's Chief Operational Commander. Hafiz Saeed used to give orders to Abu Qatal, who then executed major attacks in Kashmir.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) also named Abu Qatal in its chargesheet for his involvement in the 2023 Rajouri attack.

RAJOURI TERROR ATTACK

On January 1, 2023, a terror attack targeted civilians in Rajouri’s Dhangri village. The attack was followed by an IED blast the next day. Seven people, including two children, died, and many others were seriously injured in the attacks.

NIA charge-sheeted five accused, including three Pakistan-based handlers of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit, in the Rajouri attacks case.

As per NIA investigations, the trio had orchestrated the recruitment and dispatch of LeT terrorists from Pakistan to target civilians, particularly from the minority community in Jammu & Kashmir, as well as security personnel.

He was also involved in Bhatta/Duria terror attack on April 20, 2023, in which five Army personnel had died and their bodies were mutilated.

Several security agencies, including the Army, had been tracking Abu Qatal for his role in multiple terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir.

The 43-year-old Zia-ur-Rehman was the main handler of LeT involved in the planning of various terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch-Rajouri region. He along with Saifullah Sajid Jutt was the main handler of terrorists of Laskhkar-e-Taiba operating in the region. He was in-charge of Khuiratta Dett of LeT located in Kotli Dist of Pakistan occupied J&K.

According to the dossier accessed exclusively by India Today, Abu Qatal was the main link between LeT cadre and operators in Pak occupied J&K and Sindh Province of Pakistan. Abu Qatal had infiltrated into the Jammu region in early 2000, and exfiltrated in the year 2005.