Another Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist killed in mysterious shooting in Karachi, Pakistan

Unidentified gunmen struck once again in Pakistan, this time killing another key Lashkar-e-Taiba operative in Karachi. Mufti Qaiser Farooq, 30, was killed in a targeted attack, as reported by Pakistan's Dawn newspaper. Like similar shooting few days back, the incident happened at the Gulshan-i-Umar seminary in the Edhi Center locality, where Farooq was shot multiple times at close range.

While the motive behind this chilling assassination remains undisclosed by Pakistani media, sources suggest that internal strife within the Lashkar-e-Taiba may be to blame. Police sources cited in Pakistani media disclosed that Farooq sustained gunshot wounds to his back and was transported to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Videos claiming to depict the CCTV footage of Farooq's killing have also emerged on social media. The footage captures the chaos as people flee, with a man, presumably Farooq, collapsing on the road after being shot. The attackers' familiarity with the area's layout and local knowledge strongly suggest that they were insiders rather than outsiders.

This incident follows a series of killings of religious clerics closely associated with terrorist organizations, with Lashkar operatives frequently in the crosshairs. As per reports, the murder is an indicator of turmoil within the terrorist group after Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI reportedly failed to broker a truce between the fighting factions. A significant faction within Lashkar has revolted against the appointment of Hafiz Saeed's son, Talha, as the second-in-command.

Talha has been leading Lashkar-e-Taiba's India-centric operations and narrowly survived an assassination attempt in Lahore in 2019—a development attributed to internal strife within the organization. Consequently, several senior Lashkar operatives have expressed concerns about their safety.

The recent killing of LeT operative and prominent cleric Maulana Ziaur Rehman, who was fatally shot in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar, has prompted over a dozen terrorists and their sympathizers in Pakistan to seek refuge in ISI safe houses. Rehman's murder bears a striking resemblance to the assassination of wanted terrorist and Khalistan Commando Force chief, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, who was also gunned down while out for a morning walk near his Lahore residence in May by unidentified gunmen.