Who Was Abu Saifullah Khalid, Killed in Pakistan?.. Why Was He Assassinated?

Abu Saifullah Khalid, a key operative of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and suspected mastermind behind several major terrorist attacks in India, was shot dead in Pakistan. On Sunday, unidentified assailants opened fire on Khalid at his residence in the Matli area of Sindh Province, resulting in his death.

Khalid, who also operated under various aliases such as Rajavullah Nizamani Khalid, Vinod Kumar, and Mohammad Saleem, was reportedly involved in multiple terror-related activities targeting India.

He was the primary conspirator behind the 2006 terrorist attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur, in which three terrorists involved were killed during the incident. Khalid was also linked to the 2005 attack on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, where Professor Munish Chandra Puri lost his life and four others were injured. Although the attackers in that case evaded capture, Khalid’s close associate, Abu Anas, was charge-sheeted, but remains absconding.

Furthermore, Khalid was suspected to be behind the 2008 attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. That assault resulted in the deaths of seven security personnel and one civilian. The attackers in this case also evaded arrest.

Since the mid-2000s, Khalid had allegedly operated LeT’s activities from Nepal. From there, he oversaw recruitment, financial operations, logistics, and the movement of militants across the Indo-Nepal border. He reportedly worked closely with key LeT figures such as Azam Cheema, also known as Babaji, and the group’s chief accountant Yakub.

Following a crackdown on the LeT network in Nepal by Indian agencies, Khalid is believed to have relocated to Pakistan. He continued to coordinate with top leadership of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), including Yusuf Muzammil, commander of LeT in Jammu and Kashmir, Mujammil Iqbal Hashmi, and Mohammad Yusuf Taibi.

Recent reports suggest that Khalid had been assigned responsibilities such as recruitment and fundraising for LeT in the Badin and Hyderabad districts of Sindh Province. He was reportedly living in Badin with his Nepali wife, Nagma Bano. According to security agency reports, his handlers had issued directives to restrict his movements and provide personal security.

Nevertheless, on Sunday afternoon, he was ambushed and shot dead by assailants who had apparently been monitoring his movements. The incident has raised several questions regarding possible internal rivalries within terror groups or the involvement of external forces in Pakistan.