Representative image credits: IANS
Sheikh Yousuf Afridi, associated with Lashkar-e-Toiba and a close aide of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, was shot dead by unidentified militants in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, police said.A police source said that unidentified armed assailants opened indiscriminate fire on Afridi, killing him instantly in Landi Kotal in Khyber Agency. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.Afridi was considered a key figure within the regional structure of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba group and is believed to have played a role in recruiting and coordinating the group’s activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.An official in Saeed’s banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa group said Afridi was a “renowned religious scholar and belonged to the Zakhakhel tribe of Khyber, and was considered a prominent scholar of the Ahl al-Hadith (Salafi) doctrine.”“He was targeted when unidentified assailants shot him and managed to flee the scene. We must remember that extremist groups such as the Kharijites (
Pakistani Taliban movement
) — They currently face strong intellectual and practical challenges from Salafist scholars.The police source said, “The incident sparked widespread anger in the region, and the local authorities opened an investigation to arrest those responsible for his killing.”
The killing comes more than a week later
Amir Hamza
One of the founding leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba was shot and injured in an attack in Lahore. Hamza is considered the second most important leader of the group after Saeed, who has been imprisoned in Kot Lakhpat prison in Lahore since 2019 after being convicted in terrorism financing cases.
