Qari Saifullah Akhtar, a former suspected Al Qaeda militant and founder of the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad-Al Islami group, has been gunned down in Afghanistan, a private news channel reported on Wednesday citing sources.
Akhtar was killed in a clash with Afghan security forces in Birmil area of Paktika province bordering Pakistan.
Hailing from Chishtian, Qari Akhtar was an active leader of militants based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has previously worked as advisor of slain Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
In 2008, Akhtar was arrested from Lahore in connection with the October 18, 20 suicide bombing at Karachi’s Karsaz area that narrowly missed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto but killed about 150 others. Bhutto was later assassinated in another gun-and-bomb attack in Rawalpindi on Dec 27, 2007.