Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group’s co-founder Amir Hamza suffered bullet injuries in an attack on Thursday. Motorcycle-borne unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s Lahore attacked the second most important leader of the militant group.
As per the police, two unidentified gunmen opened fire on the vehicle of the TV channel 24 NewsHD, owned by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, news agency PTI reported. The channel’s religious programme host Justice (ret) Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Hamza were in the vehicle. While Hamza suffered bullet injuries to his arm, Ghazi remained unhurt.
The latest attack on Hamza was the second such attack after the LeT leader was shot in May last year.
Hamza is the second most important leader in LeT after its chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019. Saeed was convicted of several years in terror financing cases.
Two men shot Hamza
Police said that Hamza and Ghazi were travelling in a white car near Peco Road in Lahore near the TV channel’s office, when two unknown men riding a motorcycle opened fire. “Hamza suffered bullet injuries while Ghazi remained unhurt,” the police was quoted as saying.
Following the incident, Hamza has been shifted to a hospital, where he is being treated, they said.
Meanwhile police has launched a probe into the incident with the help of CCTV footage to trace the attackers.
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News show host Ghazi remained unhurt
Hamza was accompanied by Nazir Ahmed Ghazi who hosts a programme called ‘Noor-e-Sehar’ on 24NewsHD. Ghazi had just finished recording his show at the City News office and was on his way home at the time of the incident.
Hafiz Saeed’s political front condemns attack
Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of Hafiz Saeed’s banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), has strongly condemned the attack on Hamza and demanded that those involved in the incident be arrested immediately.
The party urged the government to ensure security for “religious scholars.” Leader of PMML, Hafiz Talha Saeed, in a statement, said that the incident, which took place in broad daylight, reflects negligence and failure on the part of the authorities.
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The leaders urged the government to ensure the immediate arrest of the attackers and to provide adequate protection to religious scholars.
Amir Hamza has been designated as a terrorist by the US, and served as the head of LeT’s “special campaigns” department. In 2018, Hamza formed a fundraising group for the LeT following a ban on the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation by the Pakistani government.
(With inputs from PTI)
