The JeM terrorist who orchestrated the Pathankot attacks in 2016 was killed yesterday
NEW DELHI: On Tuesday, in Pakistan’s Sialkot, unidentified attackers fatally shot Shahid Latif, the orchestrator of the Pathankot attacks in Punjab. Latif was a fugitive wanted by the Indian National Investigation Agency for his involvement in the Pathankot incident under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed extremist was shot at close range by the attackers, seemingly aware of the local terrain. Speculation has emerged that the shooters were residents of the area, and the killing was potentially sanctioned by authorities in Pakistan.
WATCH:
The Pathankot attacks had lasted for over 17 hours in January 2016. Guns blazed inside the air base between the Indian security personnel and the JeM terrorists, resulting in the deaths of five of the terrorists and six security personnel. Another three soldiers breathed their last, as they succumbed to their injuries en route to the hospital, taking the death toll to nine.
JeM’s attack on the air base went on for a couple of other days, as on January 3, another soldier was killed in an Improvised Explosive Device blast, while on January 4, as operations resumed, another terrorist was killed. It is widely believed that these attacks were a turning point in India-Pakistan relations, causing a deterioration in their relationship that has yet to improve.
The Pathankot mastermind had been released by the Congress-led UPA government, alongside 24 other terrorists, as a part of its efforts to repair ties with Pakistan.
It has been said that the release of the terrorist had been sought by the same JeM terrorists who had hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999. They had managed to get their chief Maulana Masood Azhar freed alongside two others in exchange of 154 passengers who were being kept hostage by them.
However, the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had refused to release Latif and 31 others on JeM’s “wish list”.
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