New Delhi: Akram Khan alias Akram Ghazi, a former commander and top recruiter of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was killed by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan on Thursday, sources said. Ghazi, who was known for his anti-India speeches and activities, was shot in the Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 132 km north of the provincial capital Peshawar.
Ghazi was the head of the LeT recruitment cell from 2018 to 2020, a crucial segment responsible for identifying and recruiting individuals sympathetic to extremist causes. He was also involved in radicalizing and sending terrorists to infiltrate the Kashmir Valley, where they carried out attacks against Indian security forces and civilians⁵. He was a well-known figure of the terror group and had been engaged in extremist activities for a long time.
According to reports, Ghazi’s assassination is being downplayed by the Pakistani establishment, which has invested heavily in exporting terrorism to India’s Jammu and Kashmir. It is believed that Ghazi’s murder took place due to internal conflict between the organization and its local rivals. Pakistani agencies are investigating Ghazi’s murder.
This is the second consecutive killing of India’s enemy in the last week. On October 10, Shahid Latif, the chief handler of the terror squad that attacked the Pathankot airbase in India’s Punjab in 2016, was gunned down by unidentified assailants in a mosque in Sialkot, Pakistan. This is also the third significant killing of a LeT terrorist in less than three months. In September, LeT commander Riyaz Ahmed was killed outside the Al Quddus Mosque in Rawalakot area of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
