Hafiz Saeed aide Sheikh Yousaf Afridi shot dead in Pakistan gun attack

New Delhi- Sheikh Yousaf Afridi, a close aide of Hafiz Saeed, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police officials said.

According to local authorities, the incident took place in Landi Kotal in the Khyber region, where armed attackers reportedly opened indiscriminate fire on Afridi, killing him on the spot before fleeing the scene. No organisation has so far claimed responsibility for the killing.

Afridi was believed to be associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba and was considered an important figure in the outfit’s regional network. Officials indicated that he was allegedly involved in recruitment and coordination activities in the area.

A functionary linked to Jamaat-ud-Dawa described Afridi as a religious scholar from the Zakhakhel tribe and associated with the Ahl-e-Hadith school of thought. The official suggested that he may have been targeted amid ongoing tensions involving extremist factions in the region.

Security agencies have launched an investigation to trace the attackers, while the incident has reportedly triggered tension in the locality.

The development comes days after another senior figure linked to the same network, Amir Hamza, sustained bullet injuries in a separate attack in Lahore. Hamza is considered one of the top leaders of the group after Saeed, who has been lodged in jail since 2019 in connection with terror financing cases.

Authorities are now examining whether the two incidents are linked, even as violence involving militant figures continues to raise security concerns in the region.