In the year 2023, several unknown gunmen have been reportedly killing terror outfits and their leaders all over the world. This led to the worsening of relations between India and Canada along with a diplomatic confrontation between India and USA.
Table of Contents
Operations by Unknown Gunmen
Till now I have seen the unknown gunmen making headlines in the following countries:
- Pakistan
- USA
- Canada
- UK
- Afghanistan
Also, they have assassinated terrorists in the Pakistan occupied parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
Not everyone was shot, for example Avtar Khanda died of severe blood cancer.
Original List by Swarajya Magazine
1. Pakistan
Terrorists which were killed by unknown gunmen in Pakistan were:
Dawood Malik
Dawood was a close aid of the UN-designated terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar and was involved in anti-India terrorism. He was shot dead in North Waziristan by unidentified gunmen. He was a also a key figure in Lashkar e Jabbar.
Shahid Latif
He was the mastermind of Pathankot Terror attack and was shot by unknown gunmen on 11 October 2023 in Sialkot, Pakistan.
Zia ur Rehman
The Lashkar e Taiba terrorist was shot dead on 29 Sep 2023 by motorcycle borne assailants in Karachi.
Sardar Hussain Arain – 1 Aug 2023
Arain was an operative of Lashkar e Taiba and a close aid of Hafeez Saeed. He was responsible for maintaining the madrassa networks of Saeed’s Jamaat ud Dawah.
He was shot on 1 Aug 2023 in his shop in Nawabshah, Karachi.
His assassination was claimed by Sindhudesh Liberation Army, a separatist organization advocating for independent Sindh.
Paramjeet Singh Panjwar – 6 May 2023
Panjwar also known as Malik Sardar Singh was the chief of terror outfit Khalistan Commando Force. He was assassinated on 6 May 2023 in his home in Lahore, Pakistan.
Syed Noor Shalobar – 4 March 2023
Shalobar was a recruiter of terrorists in Kashmir valley and had links to ISI and Pak Army. He was killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa state in Punjab on 4 March 2023.
Bashir Ahmed Peer – 20 February 2023
Also known as Imtiyaz Alam Peer was one of the top commanders of Hizbul Mujahideen as was living in Pakistan for 15 years. He also played a key role in terrorist activities in the Kashmir valley.
He was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Karachi, Pakistan.
Harvinder Singh Sandhu – 19 Nov 2022
Sandhu was a Khalistani terrorist and was also known by the name of Harwinder Singh Rinda. He died of drug overdose in a military hospital in Lahore.
NIA had earlier announced a ₹10 Lakh reward for Rinda.
He was also linked to the assassination of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
Rinda was also involved in the grenade attack on a police station in Mohali, Punjab. The attack was allegedly targeted towards Sidhu Moosewala.
Zahoor Mistry – 1 March 2022
Mistry was a known Jaish e Mohammed terrorist and was involved in the hijacking of IC 814 plane. He was killed by unknown gunmen in Karachi on 1 March 2022. The gunmen came on motorcycle.
2. Pakistan Occupied Areas of Jammu and Kashmir
I have separately stated the activities that took place in the Pakistan occupied areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
Abu Qasim Kashmiri – 8 Sep 2023
Abu Qasim aka Riyaz Ahmad was from Jammu and had been a key figure in terrorism in the region. He was killed on 8 Sep 2023 in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
3. Canada
Sukhdool Singh – 21 Sep 2023
Sukhdool Singh also known as Sukha Duneke Singh, a Khalistani Terrorist who was associated with Arshdeep Singh was killed in Winnipeg Canada.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar – 19 June 2023
The matter took a serious turn when the Khalistan separatist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in Canada on 18 June 2023. He has been known to have proven connections with Khalistani Terror groups such as Babbar Khalsa, Khalistan Tiger Force, Sikhs for Justice, and several other terror groups. He was also involved in gang related violence, drug trafficking and other crimes in Canada.
Nijjar was born in Jalandhar, India and migrated to Canada on 10 Feb 1997 just after Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh was assassinated in 1996. He was also arrested in India in 1995 before his emigration to Canada.
Ripudaman Singh Malik – 14 July 2022
Malik was a known associate of Babbar Khalsa, a Khalistani Terrorist group. He was shot dead on 14 July 2022 in Surrey, Canada. He also faced charges for his involvement in the 1985 Kanishka Flight Bombing.
4. United States of America
Paramjit Singh Pannun
The attack on Paramjit Singh Pannun, a sikh separatist and leader of Sikhs for Justice was allegedly twice attempted for assassination in 2023.
In December 2023, Czech authorities assisted by USA’s DEA arrested a drug trafficker named Nikhil Gupta whom they said had allegedly deep links to the Indian state. The US also officially sent a few allegations which seemed to raise questions on their genuinity or seriousness.
5. United Kingdom
Avtar Singh Khanda
He was a Pakistani Sikh Separatist in the United Kingdom. He died in Sandwell Hospital, Birmingham due to Stage-4 blood cancer on 15 June 2023. His cancer was sudden because a few months prior in March 2023 he actively took part in violent protests against Indian Embassy. As per my knowledge of chemistry, this usually happens after Polonium poisoning.
He had another name Ranjodh Singh (possibly fake).
His father, Kulwant Singh Khukrana, was a known Khalistan Liberation Front terrorist and was instrumental in radicalization in India. His father was gunned down by security forces in 1991. His mother too was related to another Khalistani Liberation Front terrorist, Gurjant Singh Budhsingwala.
6. Afghanistan
Aijaz Ahmed Ahangar
Aijaz was a key terrorist associated with the Islamic State Khorasan and was found dead in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. It is believed that he was killed by the Taliban Government.
Who are the Unknown Gunmen? An Intelligent Guess
The unknown gunmen might be the political or criminal rivals of the people who have been killed.
I have came to the conclusion after watching several podcasts and previous modus operandi of Indian intelligence in the Kashmir valley.
This is because almost all of those killed had a good exposure to the world of crime including drugs, weapons, terror, smuggling, guns for hire, etc. It would have been very easy for someone to tip off their rival gangs or criminals to do the job instead of hiring a gunmen through Indian Govt officials like the US suggests.