Pathankot attack mastermind Shahid Latif gunned down in front of a mosque

Shahid Latif, the mastermind of the 2016 Pathankot attack, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen outside a mosque in Sialkot, Pakistan on Wednesday. He was attacked when he and his brother were heading home from Noor Madina Mosque in Daska town, according to PTI. Reports suggest that three people on motorcycles opened fire on the brothers, killing them on the spot, and injuring one other person.

"Shahid Latif had security threats. All the investigators are on the spot”, said Hasan Iqbal, District Police Officer, Sialkot, confirming the death of Shahid Latif. Hasan Iqbal further stated that this is an act of ‘terrorism and target killing’.

Noor Al-Din Latif, alias Bilal, was designated by India as a terrorist under the UAPA in 1993. He was the launching commander of the Jaish-E-Mohammed in the city of Sialkot and was reportedly involved in the preparation, coordination, and execution of terrorist attacks in India. It is reported that Latif first arrived in Kashmir in 1993 from the Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, where he was a member of the outlawed Harkat-Ul-Ansar. After his arrest a year later, Latif was detained in Kol Balwal Prison in Jammu, where he is believed to have been further radicalized by the leader of the JeM, Masood Azhar. In 1999, Latif was released in exchange for the Indian Airlines passengers who had been taken hostage and transported to Kandahar.

Latif had served 16 years before being deported through the Attari-Wagah border in 2010. After his deportation, he reconnected with Azhar, who had by then established the JeM. According to an unidentified official who spoke to PTI, this is the biggest blow to JeM on Pakistani soil.​