Sheikh Yousaf Afridi, described by authorities as a senior operative of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and a close associate of Hafiz Saeed, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Landi Kotal in Pakistan’s Khyber region, police said. The attack took place on Sunday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about 250 km from Islamabad; assailants opened fire and Afridi died at the scene. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the killing.
Local officials say Afridi played a key role in the regional LeT network, reportedly handling recruitment and the coordination of the group’s activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Authorities have launched an investigation into the attack, and local reactions to the killing have included widespread anger.
An official from Hafiz Saeed’s banned Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) described Afridi as a well-known religious scholar from the Zakhakhel tribe and a prominent Ahl-e-Hadith (Salafi) cleric. The official suggested that extremist factions — referring to groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan with the term “Khawarij” — are encountering intellectual and operational challenges from Salafi scholars.
The killing follows other recent attacks on Islamist figures: over a week earlier in Lahore, Amir Hamza, a founding LeT leader and considered the group’s second-most important figure after Saeed, was wounded in a shooting. Hafiz Saeed has been held in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after convictions in terror-financing cases.
