Mohammed Aqeel

Who is Mohammed Aqeel?

Mohammed Aqeel is a Pakistani Islamist militant and member of the banned terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Originally from Kahuta Tehsil in Punjab, he worked until 2006 in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps.

Aqeel was suspected of involvement in the February 2008 assassination of Lieutenant General Mushtaq Ahmed Baig, the Surgeon General of the Army Medical Corps. A Dr. Usman was also arrested in connection with the Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing in September 2008.

Aqeel is the suspected mastermind of March 3, 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team. On March 9, 2009 he escaped when police raided his hideout early in the morning. He has also been suspected of an attack on retired General Pervez Musharraf. He was said to have fled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas several days prior to the raid.

Months later Aqeel took part in the attack on the Pakistan Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. He was captured while holding hostages and trying to blow himself up; Aqeel was injured in the process.