Who was Abu Saifullah, LeT mastermind behind deadly attacks in India, gunned down in Pakistan?

A top commander of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Razaullah Nizamani, also known by his alias Abu Saifullah Khalid, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Matli, Sindh, on Sunday. His killing is being seen as a major blow to the terrorist organisation.

Nizamani was one of LeT’s most important leaders and had been involved in planning several deadly attacks on Indian soil. He was best known as the mastermind behind the 2006 terror attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur. Apart from that, he also played a key role in the 2005 Indian Institute of Science (IISc) attack in Bengaluru and the 2001 attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, which killed seven security personnel.

On the day of his killing, Nizamani had stepped out from his home in Matli. While he was near a local crossing called Phalkara Chowk, not far from his house, unknown gunmen opened fire and killed him on the spot.

Sources say Nizamani was under security protection by Pakistani authorities. In fact, after the recent Pahalgam terror attack and India’s strong response through Operation Sindoor, Pakistan’s military and intelligence agency ISI had warned LeT leaders not to move around openly. However, Nizamani didn’t follow those instructions, which may have led to his death.

Nizamani was also known to operate in Nepal, where he handled Lashkar’s recruitment, financing, and logistics. He helped many operatives cross into India using the Indo-Nepal border. He worked closely with other LeT leaders like Azam Cheema and Yaqoob, the group’s chief accountant.

His death is seen as a big setback for Lashkar-e-Taiba, especially in terms of recruitment and fundraising operations in South Asia.