26/11 accused was killed six months before the Mumbai terror attack: Witness tells Pak court

Islamabad: A witness in the Mumbai terror attack case on Wednesday claimed before a Pakistani anti-terrorism court that his brother, one of the accused in the case, was killed in a US drone strike in Waziristan six months before the 26/11 attack. [caption id=“attachment_2344308” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The witness, Bhalol Khan, recorded his statement in the Anti-Terrorism Court (Islamabad), which is holding the trial of seven Mumbai attack accused, including LeT operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Bhalol told the court, which is hearing the case at the high security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, that his brother Abdullah alias Saddam, one of the accused in terror attack case, was killed in a US drone attack in Wana on 31 May, 2008. He claimed that his brother was killed some six months before the Mumbai attack took place on 26 November, 2008. The other three witnesses did not turn up in the court to record their statements. The court adjourned the hearing till 23 July. According to the Federal Investigation Agency’s Red Book, Abdullah was involved in the Pakistan Air Force Kamra Air base attack in 2008 and assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Lakhvi, 55, and six other accused - Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum - have been lodged in Adiala Jail for nearly six years in connection with planning and executing the Mumbai attack in November, 2008 that left 166 people killed. Lakhvi was released from jail on 10 April after securing bail. Ten other co-accused, said to be either trainers or facilitators of the terrorists who launched the attacks in Mumbai, had been declared “proclaimed offenders or fugitives” by the anti-terrorism court. PTI