Pakistan Increases Security Around Hafiz Saeed After Pahalgam Terror Attack

Pakistan has reportedly increased security around Hafiz Saeed, the chief of the terror group Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT), following concerns that he could be targeted in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack. The 77-year-old is believed to have masterminded the massacre that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Kashmir on April 22. The Resistance Front (TRF), which claimed responsibility for the attack, is an offshoot of his LeT.

Pakistan Enhances Security for Hafiz Saeed

Pakistan has stepped up security near Hafiz Saeed's residence in Lahore. According to a report by Times of India (TOI), former commandos from the Special Service Group, along with additional security personnel, have been stationed at his homes, including one located in Mohalla Johar, Lahore.

Saeed, who is a fugitive wanted in India for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, resides in a densely populated area. His residence, under what Pakistan refers to as "imprisonment," has been transformed into a temporary sub-jail, according to TOI. Sources informed India Today TV that Saeed's security has been significantly enhanced, with his protection now including armed personnel from the Pakistan Armed Forces, ensuring round-the-clock surveillance.

The compound around Saeed's house is being monitored by drones, and high-resolution CCTV cameras have been installed along roads within a four-kilometre radius. His security measures were tightened shortly after the Pahalgam attack. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has reportedly vowed revenge for the massacre, threatening to target Saeed.

Saeed is wanted by both India and the US for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. In 2022, he was sentenced to 33 years in prison in Pakistan for terror financing in two separate cases.

'Unexplained' Killings of Terrorists in Pakistan

Several terrorists in Pakistan have been mysteriously killed in recent years, raising concerns over the safety of those linked to Saeed.

In March 2023, Hafiz Saeed's close associate, Abu Qatal, was allegedly shot dead by unknown assailants in Jhelum district, Punjab. Qatal, a 43-year-old LeT commander and Saeed's nephew, was killed shortly before Saeed's security was enhanced.

In March 2024, Sheikh Jameel-ur-Rehman, a self-proclaimed secretary general of the United Jihad Council, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In another instance, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist Shahid Latif, believed to be the mastermind behind the 2016 Pathankot attack, was gunned down in Sialkot, Pakistan, in October 2023.

Dawood Malik, an aide to India's most-wanted terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar, was also killed by unidentified gunmen in North Waziristan just days before Latif's death.

In September 2023, two motorbike-borne assailants shot and killed Maulana Ziaur Rehman in Karachi. Rehman was known for radicalizing youth to conduct jihad against India. The same month, Abu Qasim Kashmiri was assassinated while praying inside the Al-Qudus mosque in Rawalakot. Kashmiri was believed to have been behind the Dhangri attack in Rajouri district, which killed seven people and injured 13 others.

In August 2023, Sardar Hussain Arain, a close associate of Hafiz Saeed, was shot dead in Qazi Ahmad town, Sindh's Shaheed Benazirabad district.

In May 2023, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, a Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in Lahore.

Bashir Ahmad Peer, also known as Imtiyaz Alam, a close aide of Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin, was killed at point-blank range outside a shop in Rawalpindi in February 2023. A week later, former Al-Badr Mujahideen commander Syed Khalid Raza was shot dead by assailants on motorcycles in Karachi.

In March 2022, Zahoor Mistry, one of the hijackers of Indian Airlines flight IC 814, was killed by two assailants on motorcycles in Karachi's Akhtar colony.