NAROWAL: In what believed to be a targeted attack on a Daska mosque during Fajr prayers on Wednesday, a prayer leader, a religious activist belonging to an outlawed outfit and his security guard were killed.

Quoting Zulfikar Ali, another security guard of Maulana Shahid Latif, police said six unknown people reached the Noori-e-Madina Masjid in Mandike Guraya Chowk on motorbikes and three of them joined the prayers. He said soon some gunshots were heard and within seconds the assailants fled the scene. He said they fired a shot on him as well but he remained unhurt.

Police said prayer leader Maulana Ahad, Maulana Muhammad Latif and his security guard Hashim Ali were seriously injured in the firing. Police said Maulana Latif died on the spot due to a head injury while Maulana Ahad and the security guard were immediately shifted to the Daska Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in a critical condition.

Police said the guard succumbed to bullet wounds while Maulana Ahad was shifted to a hospital in Gujranwala where he also expired.

Sialkot District Police Officer Muhammad Hasan Iqbal along with a heavy contingent of police reached the mosque and ordered blocking of all entry and exit routes of the district.

The DPO formed five teams for the immediate arrest of the accused.

Eyewitnesses Qamar Abbas and Salim Warik, also offering prayers, said all worshippers ran away due to the sudden fire in the mosque. He said the ages of the suspects were between 20 and 25 years.

On the complaint of ASI Amjad Javed, Daska Saddar police registered an FIR against six unknown suspects on murder and terrorism charges.

The DPO said this could be called a target killing and an incident of terrorism. He said that the police investigation teams had obtained all the evidence and statements of local people from the spot. He said CCTV footages might help police trace the culprits.

To a question, the DPO confirmed Muhammad Shahid Latif had been a Jaish-e-Muhammad activist.

Indian news website NDTV claimed Latif had guided four terrorists who carried out a terror attack at the Pathankot airbase in 2016. It said seven Indian Air Force personnel were killed when four JeM terrorists sneaked into the Pathankot Air Force Station. The encounter went on for three days.

The NDTV further said Latif was arrested in India in 1994 on terror charges. He was then put on trial and eventually jailed. He completed his sentence in 2010, after which he was deported to Pakistan.

Asif Chaudhry from Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2023