LeT commander Abu Qatal shot dead in Pakistan’s Punjab province

NEW DELHI: Abu Qatal, also known as Qatal Sindhi, a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander and a close associate of Hafiz Saeed, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Saturday night, sources in the intelligence community said.

Qatal, wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had been responsible for orchestrating attacks on civilians and security forces in the Jammu region over the past few years. According to intelligence gathered by Indian agencies, the 43-year-old was shot around 7 pm while travelling with his security guards in Jhelum district.

Active since 2002-03, Qatal played a key role in LeT’s operations in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years. He was a close associate of Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, and was named in the NIA charge sheet for the deadly 2023 Rajouri attacks.

The terrorists had targeted civilians in Rajouri’s Dhangri village in January 2023, followed by an IED blast the next day, which killed seven people, including two children. The attack sent shockwaves through the region, and investigations later revealed that Qatal was a key mastermind behind the operation.

According to the NIA, Qatal, along with two other Pakistan-based Lashkar handlers, played a pivotal role in recruiting and deploying terrorists to target civilians, particularly from the minority community, as well as security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources further revealed that Qatal was also responsible for the June 9, 2024, attack on a bus carrying pilgrims travelling from the Shiv Khori temple in Reasi to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra. The bus veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge near Teryath village in the Poni area after the terrorists opened fire. The attack resulted in the deaths of nine people, including the local driver and conductor, while 42 others were injured.

In its charge sheet filed in February 2024, the NIA named Qatal alongside two other LeT commanders—Saifullah, alias Sajit Jutt, and Mohammad Qasim—for their roles in terror operations against India.