Shahid Latif, a key lieutenant of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and the mastermind of the attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in 2016, and his brother were gunned down in a mosque in Pakistan’s Sialkot district early on Wednesday.
Latif, a resident of Aminabad in Punjab’s Gujranwala (Pakistan), was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the 2016 Pathankot case.
Three motorcycle-borne assailants fired indiscriminately at 53-year-old Latif and his brother, Haris Hashim, as they were leaving the Noor Madina mosque in Daska town after pre-dawn prayers, experts tracking the developments said.
Latif, who was accompanied by his heavily armed guards, and his brother were killed on the spot in the mosque complex.
The gunmen reportedly disguised themselves as worshippers to gain entry into the mosque complex before firing at their targets.
While no outfit or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the attack but according to police chief Hassan Iqbal of the area where the incident occurred, Latif was killed in a preplanned action and was the intended target of the assailants.
Latif alias Bilal alias Noor Al Din, a designated terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, was the launching commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammed in Sialkot and had been involved in planning, facilitation and execution of terror attacks in India.
Latif had entered Kashmir in 1993 from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as a cadre of the banned Hakar-ul-Ansar terror group. However, he was arrested a year later and sent to the Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu, experts said.
He is estimated to have been brainwashed by Masood Azhar, who was also lodged in that jail till he was set free in 1999 in exchange for the passengers of IC-814, an Indian Airlines plane that was hijacked by terrorists and taken to Kandahar.
After spending 16 years in the Indian jail, Latif was deported through the Attari-Wagah border in 2010 and was believed to have got in touch again with Azhar, who had by that time formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group.
“This is the biggest blow to JeM on Pakistan soil,” an official said.
Seven IAF personnel were killed when four JeM terrorists sneaked into the Pathankot Air Force Station on January 2, 2016. The siege went on for three days.
After the Pathankot attack, Latif was detained by the Pakistani authorities for some time. He was also involved in the terrorist attacks in Samba and Hiranagar in 2013, officials added.
