ISLAMABAD: Gul Rehman, also known as Ustad Mureed and a senior commander of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army’s (BLA) Majeed Brigade, has been killed under mysterious circumstances in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, security sources confirmed on Saturday.
Gul Rehman was the mastermind behind the deadly attack on the Jaffar Express earlier this year in Quetta, where terrorists blew up train tracks and held more than 440 passengers hostage during a day-long standoff in Bolan.
The operation ended after security forces cleared the train, rescuing the hostages and killing at least 33 attackers. However, the terrorists martyred 26 passengers before the rescue mission began, while four security personnel also embraced martyrdom.
According to Indian media reports, Gul Rehman was killed on September 17. He was not only behind the Jaffar Express tragedy but was also involved in a series of deadly attacks on Pakistani security personnel, Chinese nationals, CPEC projects, and innocent citizens.
The group Fitna al-Hindustan and its Majeed Brigade have been linked to some of the most notorious terrorist incidents, including the Karachi Chinese Consulate attack, the Gwadar Pearl Continental Hotel assault, the suicide bombing at Karachi’s Confucius Institute, the Khuzdar school bus blast, the Pakistan Stock Exchange attack, and the Quetta railway station bombing.
The United States has already declared the Majeed Brigade an international terrorist outfit, while both Pakistan and China have been pressing the United Nations to include it in its global terror list.
Officials in Islamabad said the killing of Gul Rehman once again highlights how Afghan soil continues to be used for terrorist activities against Pakistan. Recently, Pakistan urged the Afghan Taliban government to sever ties with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups, warning that failure to do so would be considered hostile.
The development underscores Pakistan’s repeated calls for international attention to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a hub of terrorism that destabilizes the entire region.
