Unknown gunmen kill key Pakistani ISI man behind 2018 Sunjwan attack | External Affairs Defence Security News

Retired Pakistan army brigadier and key Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operative Amir Hamza, who Indian counter-terror agencies believe was among the brains behind the 2018 attack on the Sunjwan army camp in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), was killed by unknown gunmen in Pakistan’s Punjab late on Monday, the Times of India has reported.

According to the report, Hamza, who was involved in other ISI operations against India as well, is the second Pakistani involved in the Sunjwan attack to have been killed. The attack on the Sunjwan army camp killed six soldiers and injured over a dozen.

Last November, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Khwaja Shahid, alias Mia Mujahid, who was suspected to be another key Sunjwan attack plotter, was found beheaded near the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

According to Pakistani media reports, the attack occurred in Pakistan Punjab’s Jhelum district, where Hamza’s car was ambushed by four unidentified men riding on two motorcycles.

According to Jhelum police, the unidentified men opened indiscriminate fire to ensure that their target was killed and then fled the scene.

According to the ToI report, Hamza’s wife and daughter were with him in the car when he was attacked. They also received injuries and reportedly told police that Hamza didn’t have any personal enmity with anyone. The Pakistani police have called it a targeted killing.

According to Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune, Hamza’s brother, who was following his car on a motorcycle, also witnessed the attack.

Rescue services rushed to the spot and confirmed the retired brigadier’s death at the scene. Speaking to local media, Pakistani police said that they were investigating the attack as a “blind murder case” and had registered a case. They added that a probe into the targeted attack was underway.

Hamza’s last position was as director general of the Emergency Services Academy.

Hamza’s case is the latest in a series of killings of Pakistanis linked to ISI-controlled terrorist attacks in India.

In December, Adnan Ahmed, alias Abu Hanzala, a high ranking LeT commander and the planner of a series of attacks on security convoys in the Kashmir Valley, was gunned down by unidentified men in Karachi.

In October, Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorist Shahid Latif, the main handler of the fidayeen squad that attacked the Pathankot airbase in 2016, was killed by unidentified gunmen in a mosque in Sialkot.

First Published: Jun 19 2024 | 12:46 PM IST