Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group's co-founder Amir Hamza suffered bullet injuries in an attack by motorcycle-borne unidentified gunmen in Lahore on Thursday, police said.
Hamza is regarded as LeT's second most important leader after its chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after getting convicted for several years in terror financing cases.
According to police, unidentified gunmen opened fire on the vehicle of the private TV channel 24NewsHD TV, owned by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. The channel's religious programme host Justice (retd. Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Hamza were in the vehicle.
"Two unidentified armed men riding a motorcycle opened fire on the white car in which Ghazi and Hamza were travelling at Peco Road in Lahore near the TV channel's office. In the attack, Hamza suffered bullet injuries while Ghazi remained unhurt," the police said.
Hamza has been shifted to a hospital, where he is being treated, they said.
Police said they have launched a probe into the incident with the help of CCTV footage to trace the attackers.
"TV host Justice Nazir Ghazi unhurt, Maulana Amir Hamza injured in Lahore gun attack. Unidentified gunmen opened fire on vehicle of 24NewsHD TV channel's religious programme host Justice Nazir Ahmed Ghazi in Lahore, leaving Maulana Amir Hamza injured," the TV channel said in a statement on X.
It said Ghazi hosts the programme 'Noor-e-Sehar' on 24NewsHD.
"Ghazi had just finished recording his show at the City News office, Lahore and was on his way home at the time of the incident," it said.
It said Ghazi remained unharmed in the attack, while Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool Pakistan (THRP) Chairman Maulana Hamza, who was travelling with him after appearing on the programme, sustained a bullet injury to his arm.
Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of Hafiz Saeed's banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), has strongly condemned the attack on Hamza and demanded that those involved in the incident be arrested immediately.
The party also called on the government to ensure effective security for "religious scholars".
In a joint statement, the PMML leaders, including Hafiz Talha Saeed, said that the broad daylight firing incident in Lahore is a question mark on the Punjab government’s security system and reflects negligence and failure on the part of the authorities.
The leaders urged the government to ensure the immediate arrest of the attackers and to provide adequate protection to religious scholars.
Hamza has been designated as a terrorist by the US.
In the past, he served as the head of LeT's "special campaigns" department.
In 2018, Hamza formed a fundraising group for the LeT following a ban on the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation by the Pakistani government.
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