Sheikh Yousaf Afridi, a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative and a close associate of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Landi Kotal in Pakistan’s Khyber region, police said. The attack occurred on Sunday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about 250 km from Islamabad, when unknown armed assailants opened fire, killing Afridi on the spot. No group has claimed responsibility.
Afridi was considered a key figure in the regional LeT structure and was reportedly involved in recruitment and coordination of the group’s activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Local authorities said the killing has provoked widespread anger and an investigation has been launched to find those responsible.
An official of Saeed’s banned Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) described Afridi as a renowned religious scholar from the Zakhakhel tribe and a prominent Ahl-e-Hadith (Salafi) cleric. The official suggested extremist factions such as the Khawarij (a reference to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) are facing intellectual and practical challenges from Salafi scholars. Separately, over a week ago in Lahore, Amir Hamza, a founding LeT leader and the group’s second most important figure after Saeed, was wounded in a shooting. Saeed has been imprisoned in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after convictions in terror-financing cases.
