Lahore (Pakistan): Banned terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) co-founder Amir Hamza was reportedly critically injured at his house in Pakistan's Lahore and was taken to a hospital on Tuesday. However, ambiguity surrounded his sudden hospitalisation as some reports claimed that he sustained gunshot injuries. He is reportedly under the security cover of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), reported The Times of India.
Hamza was injured days after LeT terrorist Abu Saifullah was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Pakistan. Meanwhile, pro-Lashkar's Telegram channels asked the cadres of the terror group to stay strong and insisted that Hamza was hospitalised due to an accident, reported The TOI.
Who Is Amir Hamza?
Hamza is a co-founder of LeT along with United Nations-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed. Sixty-six-year-old Haza is also the editor of LeT's magazines. He hails from Gujranwala city in Pakistan's Punjab province. Hamza was designated as a global terrorist by the United States in August 2012. Referred to as "Aghan Mujahideen", he was reportedly active in India in the early 2000s.
He is considered a close aide of Seed and another global terrorist, Abdul Rehman Makki.
As per TOI, in 2018, Saeed made Jamza form another outfit named Jaish-e-Manqafa after a ban on LeT and Jammu-ud-Dawah.
According to the US Treasury department, Hamza maintained relationships with other terror groups after per directions from Saeed.
"Hamza has led an LeT-associated charity and was also an officer and member of a Lashkar's university trust that was led by Saeed. Hamza's responsibilities as of mid-2010 included publishing propaganda on behalf of Lashkar. Hamza has served as editor of an LeT weekly newspaper and was also contributing articles to the LeT publication," says the website as quoted by TOI.
Hamza and Saifulah were reported to be behind the terror attack on the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru in 2005.
