Seven Most Wanted Terrorists Killed in 7 Months: Who’s Next as ‘Assailants’ Raid Pak’s Safe Houses?

The killing of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar’s close aide, Maulana Raheem Ullah Tariq on Sunday in Pakistan is the seventh time a most-wanted terrorist in India has been gunned down in Pakistan.

Tariq, an inciter of hatred, often travelled to impoverished areas in Pakistan to rile up the masses against India with hate-filled speeches.

Sunday was no different.

He was on his way to Orangi Township, a sprawling slum in Karachi, to attend an anti-India event when suddenly two unknown assailants sprung out of nowhere and sprayed him with bullets, killing him within moments.

A report by the Times of India citing people familiar with the developments said that infighting within the JeM led to his murder.

Tariq’s death shocked the Pakistan law enforcement who were quick to say that the death of a terrorist at the hands of unknown assailants was in itself “an act of terrorism”.

Pakistan government and its security agencies, without evidence, has blamed India, according to a report by Dawn but has failed to acknowledge that it is reaping what it has sowed by supporting terrorists since its formation.

Pakistan, which is a safe haven for terrorists, is known to give protection to terrorists because it can then destabilise the Kashmir valley and target India.

However, the deaths of seven wanted terrorists in the last seven months has most likely shaken the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, because these two entities continue to spend millions of dollars in arming and supporting these terrorists.

Here is a list of most wanted terrorists who were killed in Pakistan in last seven months:

1. May 6 – Paramjit Singh Panjwar: One of India’s most wanted criminals and head of the terrorist organisation Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), Panjwar, was gunned down by unknown assailants when he went out for a jog in Pakistan’s Lahore. Panjwar was given two bodyguards by the Pakistani government. One bodyguard managed to kill one of the assailants while the other assailant was injured in the firing.
2. September 12 – Maulana Zia-ur Rahman: Zia-ur Rahman of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was also killed in the same manner as Panjwar. While he was out for a stroll at a park in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar, unknown assailants came and pumped several rounds of bullets in his body.
3. September 30 – Mufti Qaiser Farooq: Farooq, a close aide of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, was gunned down in Karachi, Pakistan.
4. October 10 – Shahid Latif: JeM terrorist Shahid Latif who masterminded the 2016 attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot was shot dead by unidentified assailants in a mosque in Daska town of Pakistan’s Sialkot. Three masked gunmen came and shot the terrorist in presence of his bodyguards. Latif is a designated terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and was lodged in an Indian prison till 2010.
5. November 7 – Khwaja Shahid: Khwaja Shahid’s lifeless and beheaded body was found in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). He was one of the masterminds of the 2018 terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sunjuwan that led to the death of five Indian Army soldiers. The LeT man was tortured before his death. It remains unclear who killed Khwaja Shahid.
6. November 10 – Akram Ghazi: Another LeT recruiter and commander Akram Khan Ghazi was gunned down by bike-borne assailants in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistani law enforcement has tried to point fingers at India but Pakistani news media outlets say infighting within the factions of the terrorist group led to his murder.
7. November 12 – Raheem Ullah Tariq: Unknown assailants gunned down JeM chief’s close aide in Karachi.