Islamabad, May 23: Several Pakistan-based wanted terrorists, including Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and Al-Badr supremo Bakht Zameen Khan, attended the funeral of Pulwama attack mastermind terrorist Hamza Burhan in Islamabad, according to visuals circulating on social media and local reports.
Hamza Burhan, also known as Arjumand Gulzar Dar and codenamed “Doctor,” was buried in Islamabad a day after he was shot by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
According to social media, apart from senior terror operatives, officials linked to Pakistan’s ISI were also seen at the funeral gathering.
Visuals from the funeral reportedly showed heavily armed individuals carrying AK-47 rifles and other sophisticated weapons deployed around the ceremony, highlighting the high-security presence during the burial.
Social media videos from the area also indicated the participation of multiple armed cadres linked to banned terror outfits.
Burhan was allegedly one of the masterminds of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, which killed more than 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in February 2019.
He was designated a terrorist by India’s Union Home Ministry in 2022 for his involvement in multiple terror-related activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to officials, he played a key role in radicalisation, recruitment of youth, and financing of Al-Badr operations from Pakistan.
In recent years, Burhan had been living undercover in PoJK while working as a teacher.
Police sources said he was serving as the principal of a private college in Muzaffarabad, located around 135 kilometres from Islamabad.
According to local police, Burhan was attacked on Thursday morning when he stepped out of the college premises.
Unknown gunmen opened fire at close range, hitting him multiple times in the head.
Earlier in May 2025, Pakistani military officers, civil bureaucrats, and prominent terror chiefs attended funerals of militants killed during India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’.
On April 22, 2025, terror struck Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorists stormed a village, asked people their religion, and killed them, resulting in 26 deaths.
A clear attempt to incite communal violence, this marked a shift from cross-border attacks to attempts at dividing India from within.
In response, India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ to destroy terror bases linked to the attack.
Visual evidence from that period had shown state-backed honours for slain terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), with coffins reportedly wrapped in the Pakistani flag and given military-style guards of honour in cities including Muridke, Bahawalpur and Muzaffarabad. (Agencies)
