News Brief
Lashkar-e-Taiba Founding Member And Hafiz Saeed's Right Hand Man, Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, Confirmed Dead By UNSC
Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi. (Source: X)
In a significant development, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has officially confirmed the death of Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, a founding member of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and the deputy to Hafiz Saeed.
Bhuttavi was a key figure in the planning of the infamous 26/11 Mumbai attacks, which claimed the lives of over 150 people.
According to the UNSC, Bhuttavi passed away due to cardiac arrest in a Pakistani jail in Muridke city on 29 May 2023. He was serving a sentence at the time of his death.
LeT's front organisations had released a video in May last year, allegedly showing Bhuttavi's funeral held at the terror group's centre in Muridke.
Meanwhile, Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is currently in custody in Pakistan, serving a 78-year imprisonment sentence since 12 February 2020, as per the latest update from the UNSC.
Bhuttavi, a deputy to Hafiz Saeed, played a pivotal role in the planning of the Mumbai attacks and served as the acting emir of LeT on multiple occasions when Saeed was detained.
He was also instrumental in preparing the operatives for the November 2008 terrorist assault in Mumbai, delivering lectures on the merits of martyrdom operations.
Aside from his involvement in the Mumbai attacks, Bhuttavi was responsible for managing LeT's madrassa network and served as a prominent scholar, instructing leaders and members while issuing fatwas authorising operations.
In mid-2002, he was tasked with establishing LeT's organisational base in Lahore.
The UNSC had designated Bhuttavi as a terrorist in 2012 for his association with Al-Qaeda and his involvement in "financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating acts or activities" by LeT.
