Who is Sajid Mir, 26/11 Mumbai attack planner arrested in Pak?

The main planner of the 26/11 November 2008 (11/26) terrorist attack in Mumbai, Sajid Mir has been arrested by Pakistan, reports said on Friday amid Pakistan's attempts to get off the FATF 'grey list'.

The new information about Sajid Mir emerged only after key Western countries put considerable pressure on Islamabad to produce evidence of his death.

Pakistan has long claimed that Mir is dead, a standard response whenever Western officials raise the case for him, the people said.

As per reports, Pakistan had arrested Mir to remove him from the "grey list" of the Financial Action Task Force, the international financial watchdog against terrorism. Indian agencies have deemed Mir to be more dangerous than Lashkar's boss, Hafiz Saeed.

The news report quoted an anonymous FBI official as saying that Mir had been arrested, tried and sentenced. However, it is unclear in which court he was tried, as there is no public record of such a trial. Pakistan's anti-terrorism courts have tried, convicted and sentenced other Laskhar members, including Saeed.

Pakistan had reportedly maintained for years that the terrorist Sajid Mir was dead. The FBI has posted a reward of up to $5 million for information on Mir's whereabouts.

Who is Sajid Mir Mumbai attack planner?

Sajid Mir is wanted for his alleged involvement in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India.

Beginning on November 26, 2008, and ending on November 29, 2008, ten attackers trained by the Pakistan-based foreign terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) carried out a series of coordinated attacks against multiple targets in Mumbai, including hotels, cafes and a train station, killing an estimated 170 people. Six Americans were killed during the three-day attacks. Mir allegedly served as the main planner for the attacks, directing preparations and reconnaissance, and was one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the attacks.

Additionally, Mir allegedly conspired to commit a terrorist attack against a newspaper and its employees in Denmark between 2008 and 2009.

Mir was indicted in the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Chicago, Illinois, on April 21, 2011, and was charged with conspiracy to damage the property of a foreign government; provide material support to terrorists; kill a non-US citizen and be an accessory; and the bombing of places of public use. An arrest warrant was issued on April 22, 2011.

Mir joined the LeT in the early 1990s and is said to have identified Headley, who was by then an FBI/Drug Enforcement Authority informant, recruited him from Lashkar in 2005, and with the help of Pakistan Army officers appointed in FIR and courts. documents, he planned the Mumbai attacks since 2006.

Mir deployed Headley to Mumbai for reconnaissance purposes as early as 2006, taking part in training the 10 terrorists who arrived off the Mumbai coast from Thatha in Sindh, giving them real-time instructions over the phone as the attack unfolded.

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