Amir Hamza, a retired Pakistan army brigadier and important ISI operative, was shot and killed by unknown attackers in Punjab, Pakistan, on Monday night. Hamza was known to counter-terror agencies for his role in ISI-led operations against India. He was believed to be one of the masterminds behind the 2018 attack on the Sunjwan Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of six soldiers and injuries to over a dozen others.

He is the second Pakistani linked to the Sunjwan attack to be killed. Last November, LeT commander Khwaja Shahid, also known as Mia Mujahid and suspected to be another key plotter, was found beheaded near the LoC in POK. Hamza’s wife and daughter, who were in the car with him and were injured, told the police that the shooters did not take anything.

Hamza’s wife and daughter, who were in the car with him and were injured, told the police that Hamza had no personal enemies. Pakistani police have stated that it was a targeted killing.

The attack occurred in Jhelum district, Punjab. Four unidentified men on motorcycles ambushed Hamza’s car when it reached the Lilla interchange in Jhelum. Pakistani media reported that the two bikes cornered his car from both sides. According to Jhelum police, the men riding as passengers opened fire, killing Hamza before fleeing the scene.

The Express Tribune newspaper in Pakistan reported that Hamza’s brother Ayub witnessed the attack, as he was following Hamza’s car on a motorcycle. Though Ayub filed the complaint, the police are also scrutinizing him. Rescue 1122, which arrived at the scene, confirmed Hamza’s death and the injuries to his wife and daughter. Pakistani police told local media that they are investigating the case as a ‘blind murder case’ and have registered it as a targeted attack. Hamza, who held key supervisory roles towards the end of his career, was the director general of the Emergency Services Academy (1122) before retiring.

His killing is the latest in a series of deaths of Pakistanis involved in ISI-engineered terror attacks in India. In April, unidentified gunmen killed Amir Sarfaraz, a key ISI operative with heavy protection, in Lahore. In December, unidentified men also shot Adnan Ahmed, also known as Abu Hanzala, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander responsible for numerous attacks on security convoys in the Valley, in Karachi. In October, unidentified assailants gunned down Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorist Shahid Latif, who managed the fidayeen squad that attacked the Pathankot airbase in 2016, in a mosque in Sialkot

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