From Amir Hamza To Zahoor Mistry, List Of Wanted Pakistani Terrorists Targeted By ‘Unknown Gunmen’

Last Updated:April 16, 2026, 14:27 IST

Amir Hamza’s killing in Lahore adds to a growing list of India-designated terrorists eliminated by unidentified gunmen across Pakistan in recent years.

The targeting of Amir Hamza, a founding member of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), this week points to a continuing pattern of India-designated most-wanted terrorists being eliminated in Pakistan — a trend that has persisted for the past two to three years.

Hamza, who was sanctioned by the US and played a key role in building LeT alongside Hafiz Saeed in the 1980s, was attacked by unknown gunmen in Lahore.

Over the last three to four years, more than a dozen terrorist commanders linked to outfits such as LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen have been killed by unidentified assailants across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Just before Hamza’s targeting, Mohammad Tahir Anwar, the brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

In March 2024, Zia-ur-Rehman alias Nadeem, alias Abu Qatal, alias Qatal Sindhi — a top LeT commander wanted by Indian security agencies — was shot dead by unknown gunmen. He was considered the mastermind of the Reasi bus attack, in which terrorists killed nine pilgrims and injured 41 on June 9, 2024, the day of the oath-taking ceremony of the Narendra Modi-led government.

The pattern of such killings was particularly pronounced in 2023, when at least seven terrorists were eliminated within a span of seven months.

Among them was Paramjit Singh Panjwar, one of India’s most wanted terrorists and chief of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), who was gunned down by unidentified assailants while out on a morning walk in Lahore. Despite being provided security by Pakistani authorities, Panjwar was targeted at close range, though one of the attackers was reportedly neutralised by his security detail.

Mufti Qaiser Farooq, a close aide of Hafiz Saeed, was also shot dead by unknown gunmen in Karachi.

On October 10, 2023, JeM terrorist Shahid Latif, a key conspirator in the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, was killed inside a mosque in Sialkot’s Daska area. Masked assailants opened fire in the presence of his bodyguards. Latif had previously been in Indian custody before being released in 2010.

Less than a month later, on November 7, Khwaja Shahid — another LeT operative linked to the 2018 Sunjuwan Army camp attack — was found dead in PoK. His beheaded body bore signs of torture, though the circumstances of his killing remain unclear.

On November 10, Akram Khan Ghazi, an LeT commander involved in recruitment, was shot dead by bike-borne assailants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. While Pakistani authorities hinted at external involvement, local media reports suggested the possibility of internal rivalries within terror networks.

Even before this wave of killings, in March 2022, Zahoor Mistry — one of the hijackers of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 — was shot dead by two unidentified attackers in Karachi’s Akhtar Colony. Pakistani media initially reported the killing as that of a “businessman".

Mistry, an operative of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, was among the five terrorists who hijacked IC 814 on December 24, 1999, forcing it to Kandahar. During the week-long hijacking, he was responsible for the killing of 25-year-old passenger Rupin Katyal, whom he stabbed to death to pressure the Indian government during negotiations.

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