Malik Ishaq
Malik Ishaq (Urdu: ملک اسحاق ; 1959 – 29 July 2015) was a Pakistani militant, and leader and co-founder of the globally designated Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).
Malik Is ملک اسحاق | |
|---|---|
Malik in 2011 | |
| Born | 1959 Taranda Sawaey Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Died | 29 July 2015 (aged 55–56) |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Children | Usman † Haq Nawaz † |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (1996–2015) Sipah-e-Sahaba (1988–1996) |
| Active | 1996–2015 |
| Rank | Emir of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi |
| Battles/wars | |
| 2nd Emir of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi | |
| Preceded by | Riaz Basra |
| Vice-President of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat | |
| In office 2012 – 29 July 2015 | |
Formerly a member of anti-Shia militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba, Ishaq co-founded the LeJ in 1996. Under Ishaq's leadership, the LeJ claimed responsibility for several mass-casualty attacks largely targeting Pakistan's Shia and Barelvi population, including multiple bombings that killed over 200 Hazara Shias in Quetta in 2013. He was also accused of masterminding the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009, and the Ashura bombings in Afghanistan in 2011.
Malik was killed, along with his two sons and deputy Ghulam Rasool Shah, in a police encounter on 29 July 2015, the circumstances of which are disputed. Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada was assassinated in Attock a month later, in an attack claimed by LeJ as retaliation. Ishaq was described by various news agencies as Pakistan's most feared terror kingpin.
He was sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List by the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.