LeT co-founder Amir Hamza 'critically hurt' in accident at home, hospitalised in Lahore

Terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) co-founder, Amir Hamza, was critically injured in an accident at his home and has been hospitalised in Lahore. 

Amir Hamza

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Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founder Amir Hamza was rushed to a military hospital in Pakistan's Lahore on Tuesday under heavy ISI security, after reportedly being critically injured at his residence.

The 66-year-old, known for spearheading Lashkar’s extensive propaganda machinery through its publications, was swiftly placed under restricted care. The incident comes three days after Abu Saifullah—a senior Lashkar recruiter and operational handler—was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Pakistan.

Terror sympathisers on pro-Lashkar's Telegram channels were rattled on Tuesday evening, asking members to stay strong during the "crisis", while insisting it was an "accident".

Hamza, a native of Gujranwala in Punjab province, was blacklisted as a global terrorist by the United States in August 2012. A central figure in Lashkar’s jihadi ecosystem, he has long been associated with Hafiz Saeed and Abdul Rehman Makki, both UN-designated terrorists. His elevation to the group’s central committee marked his transition from an active militant to a strategic ideologue.

In the early 2000s, Hamza was operationally active in India and is believed to have played a significant role in orchestrating the 2005 terror assault on the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, alongside Saifullah. Shortly thereafter, he was reassigned from field operations to the group’s propaganda wing—a move seen as part of Lashkar's strategic shift toward narrative warfare.

"He also headed publication division of Lashkar and wrote books like Qafila Da'wat aur Shahadat (Caravan of Proselytizing and Martyrdom), Shahrah-e-Bahisht (The Road to Paradise)," said a source.

In 2018, following the proscription of Lashkar and its affiliate Jamaat-ud-Dawah, Hamza was entrusted by Saeed to create a new front—Jaish-e-Manqafa—in what many speculated to be a tactical move to evade scrutiny. The development had sparked whispers of internal dissent within Lashkar’s top brass but eventually revealed itself to be a calculated deception.

The US Treasury Department highlights Hamza's central role in managing Lashkar’s international ties under Saeed’s guidance:

“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,” states the Treasury's website.

“Hamza was also one of three LeT terrorists designated to negotiate the release of detained Lashkar members and also served as the head of LeT's 'special campaigns' department.”