Quick Info→
Death Cause: Drone Attack
Death Date: 03/06/2011
Age: 47 Years
Some Lesser Known Facts About Ilyas Kashmiri
- p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0″>He grew up in the village Bhimber in Samahni Valley, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
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After completing his schooling, he served in the Pakistan Army’s special forces, named the Special Services Group (SSG). However, he once denied this statement in an interview with a journalist named Syed Saleem Shahzad.
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His schoolteacher once called him an obedient student, a good athlete, and an excellent debater in a media conversation.
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Reportedly, he was associated with Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia madrasa in Karachi, known for training militants.
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He, along with his two classmates, started Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), Pakistan’s first jihadist group, during his period at Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia madrasa.
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After that, he constructed a madrasa and mosque in his village, Thathi, Bhimber District, and lived for many years next to these buildings with his wife and four children.
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During the Soviet-Afghan war, he reportedly trained Afghan fighters in using explosives in Miranshah, Pakistan, and lost an eye and index finger in a fight.
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After the war, he joined Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) in Kashmir and started working as a militant.
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In 1991, he separated from HuJI leader Qari Saifullah Akhtar and started a group titled 313 Brigade inside HuJI.
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In 1994, Kashmiri, along with Omar Saeed Sheikh, worked in an operation called al-Hadid in which they kidnapped four Western tourists, including an American.
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In the mid-1990s, he, along with Nasrullah Mansoor Langrial, was captured by the Indian Army near Poonch.
- In 1999, during a media conversation, he shared that he learnt the techniques of war from Arabs and was an expert in that style. He said that he had also trained his army in that style to fight against Indian commandos. He said,
The Arabs fighting in Afghanistan, including Egyptians and Palestinians, have adopted a separate style combining the war strategies of the Russians and Americans.”
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That same year, in a media conversation, he was asked what he would do if the Kashmir conflict ended. He replied that many other parts of India still needed to be conquered.
- He added that he, along with other militants, would continue their war in Chechnya and Palestine. He said,
We folks have taken an oath from Mullah Omar and we consider him as Ameerul Momineen. We have absolute permission from him to go to any place and engage ourselves in jihadi activities.”
Ilyas Kashmiri (right) during a discussion
- In February 2000, he attacked an Indian military post, in which he allegedly beheaded an Indian soldier named Bhausaheb Maruti Talekar.
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Later, he was awarded Rs. 100,000 (about $1,164) from then Pakistan Army Chief Pervez Musharraf for handing over the severed head of Talekar.
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After that, he refused to work under Maulana Masood Azhar in the newly formed Jaish-e-Mohammed group. Reportedly, Jaish-e-Mohammed once targeted him.
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In 2003, ISI arrested Kashmiri several times for planning to kill President Musharraf, his relationships with al-Qaeda, and refusing to stop his operations in Kashmir.
- In 2005, he relocated his operations from Kotli to Ramzak in North Waziristan Agency, where he had worked during the Soviet-Afghan War.
- In 2008, he assassinated General Amir Faisal Alvi, a former commander of the SSG.
- In mid-2009, he was attributed to the attacks on ISI offices in Lahore.
- That same year, in October, he attacked the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
- Once, during a media conversation, he was asked why he was fighting against the Pakistan military. He replied,
It was never the Pakistan Army that was against me, but certain elements who branded me as an enemy to cover up their weaknesses and to appease their masters.”
- In October 2008, he kidnapped a film producer for ransom to fund his militant activities. He then led and backed many other kidnapping operations, such as the capture of former ISI operatives Khalid Khwaja and Sultan Amir Tarar (also known as Colonel Imam) and a British Pakistani journalist.
- These operations earned him and his network millions of dollars in ransom payouts.
Ilyas Kashmiri (extreme right) shows an anti-aircraft gun to Hamid Mir (centre)
- After that, he led the 313 Brigade in HUJI, which is linked to al-Qaeda.
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He rebuilt the group and worked with the Taliban. Reportedly, during this time, many Kashmir militants shifted to Waziristan.
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During this time, an official statement by the US stated that he stayed in touch with al-Qaeda, especially with Mustafa Abu al-Yazid.
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After that, he was linked to many attacks, such as the Mumbai attacks (2008), the Pune bombing (February 2010), and the killing of Benazir Bhutto.
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Once, Syed Saleem Shahzad, a Pakistani journalist, wrote in a media article that Kashmiri pitched the Mumbai attacks to al-Qaeda to start a war and stop the raids on them. Al-Qaeda approved the plan and narrated it to ex-LeT boss Major Haroon Ashik.
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After that, Asia Times, a news Outlet, claimed that he planned to kill Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at his gym in 2008, but al-Qaeda denied the same.
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On 7 September 2009, Kashmiri was reportedly killed with Hanifullah Janikhel and Kaleemullah in Machikhel, North Waziristan, by a US drone missile.
- Later, a top US official stated in a media conference that there was proof that he died, but the interview proved him alive. The US official said,
While there were preliminary indications that Kashmiri may have been dead, there is now reason to believe that he could be alive.”
- p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0″>Some militants rumoured that he went outside to pee when a US airstrike hit his house.
- His connections with David Coleman Headley, Tahawwur Rana and Raja Lahrasib Khan declared that he was working with Western operatives in North America and Europe.
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On 27 October 2009, the US Justice Department stated that Kashmiri was linked to the Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley, who was arrested on terror charges and was a reporter to Kashmiri.
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Headley got upset upon hearing the news of Kashmiri’s death. He visited Pakistan to meet Kashmiri after learning that he was alive; however, the FBI caught him there.
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After that, the US charged Kashmiri with planning murder in Denmark against the Jyllands-Posten paper and providing help to some terrorist activities.
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In 2010, Kashmiri took over al-Qaeda’s Lashkar al Zil after a US drone killed its leader, Abdullah Said al Libi.
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David Ignatius wrote in a column in the Washington Post that before his death, Osama bin Laden told him to plan an attack on Barack Obama.
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On 6 August 2010, the US announced Kashmiri a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and froze his assets in their country and stopped Americans from dealing with him.
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The UN added him and HuJI to its Al-Qaida blacklist under Resolution 1267 and ordered all member countries to freeze his assets. They banned his travel in their country and blocked arms sales to him and HuJI.
- That same year, in a media conversation, he shared that his focus had changed from jihad in regional places like Kashmir to international jihadist strategy, with the United States as the main target. He said,
The real game is the fight against the great Satan [U.S.] and its adherents.”
He further told in the same discussion that he joined FATA-based militants to defeat the global dominance of America. He said,
Unified strategy is compulsory. The defeat of American global hegemony is a must if I want the liberation of my homeland Kashmir, and therefore it provided the reasoning for my presence in this war theater.”
An old picture of Ilyas Kashmiri with his army
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When the US killed Osama bin Laden on 2 May 2011, in Abbottabad, Pakistan, many professionals named Kashmiri as a possible new al-Qaeda leader.
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On 31 May 2011, during a court proceeding, Headley said that he followed Kashmiri to kill Robert J. Stevens, the CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation, an American defence and aerospace manufacturer.
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On 3 June 2011, a US drone hit a compound in Ghwakhwa, South Waziristan, in the Taliban. Reportedly, nine militants died, including Kashmiri, and three others were injured.
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Lala Wazir, spokesman for Taliban commander Mullah Nazir and in contact with the compound owner, confirmed Kashmiri’s death.
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After that, Kashmiri’s close associate and top HUJI leader, Qari Muhammad Idress, claimed that Kashmiri died in the airstrike.
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In June 2011, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman claimed that Kashmiri was alive and well.
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On 7 July 2011, according to a media report, a US intelligence official claimed that they were 99% sure that Kashmiri had died, but were not sure about it.
- His name was removed from the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program list, where he was listed as wanted with a $5 million reward.
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In mid-July 2011, a media outlet reported that he was alive and active near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
- In August 2011, Al-Qaeda praised Kashmiri in a magazine named Nawai Afghan Jihad.
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On 31 August 2011, a news outlet reported that Taliban commander Shah Sahib took over Brigade 313 from Kashmiri.
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In March 2012, a media outlet stated that their reliable sources witnessed him meeting TTP head Hakimullah Mehsud in North Waziristan, as the journalists could not visit the tribal areas.
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Soon after his death, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry announced that Kashmiri’s group killed Shahbaz Bhatti, a Minister of Minority Affairs.
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Reportedly, some unnamed Pakistani officials claimed that Kashmiri formed a death squad to take revenge for Osama bin Laden‘s killing.
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In December 2025, Indian actor Arjun Rampal portrayed him as ‘Major Iqbal’ in the Indian spy film Dhurandhar.
Arjun Rampal portraying Ilyas Kashmiri in the Indian spy film Dhurandhar (2025)
