Who was Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, key 26/11 planner and Hafiz Saeed's deputy confirmed dead by UNSC?
The UN Security Council confirmed the death of Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, a key planner of 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, a founding member of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and deputy to Hafiz Saeed, has been confirmed dead by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). He was one of the key masterminds in the ghastly 26/11 Mumbai attacks in which more than 150 people were killed.
Bhuttavi died of cardiac arrest in Muridke city of Pakistan on May 29, 2023, while serving his sentence in Pakistan jail, the UNSC said.
LeT’s front organisations had issued a video in May last year purportedly showing the funeral of 78-year-old Bhuttavi that was held at the terror group’s ‘markaz’ or centre at Muridke.
The UNSC also updated that Hafiz Saeed, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, is currently in the custody of Pakistan serving a 78-year imprisonment sentence since February 12, 2020.
Who is Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi?
Bhuttavi was the deputy of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and served as the acting emir of LeT on multiple occasions when Saeed was detained. He played a key role in the planning of the Mumbai attacks, which resulted in over 150 casualties. He helped prepare the operatives for the November 2008 terrorist assault in Mumbai by delivering lectures on the merits of martyrdom operations.
Bhuttavi was also responsible for LeT's madrassa network and served as a preeminent scholar, instructing leaders and members while issuing fatwas authorizing operations. In mid-2002, he was tasked with establishing LeT's organizational base in Lahore.
Bhuttavi was designated as a terrorist by the UNSC in 2012 for being associated with al-Qaeda for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities” by LeT.
"Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi was listed on 14 March 2012 pursuant to paragraph 4 of resolution 1989 (2011) as being associated with Al-Qaida for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of" or "otherwise supporting acts and activities of" Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (QDe.118)," the UNSC stated.
Following Hafiz Saeed's arrest, Bhuttavi managed the group's day-to-day functions, making independent decisions.
