LAHORE, Pakistan — A pair of gunmen walked right into a mosque in jap Pakistan on Wednesday and opened hearth on the worshippers, killing a member of an outlawed anti-India militant group and one other man earlier than fleeing the scene, authorities mentioned.

According to the police, the gunmen pretended to be worshipers once they walked into the mosque in Daska, a metropolis in jap Punjab province.

Once inside, they pulled out their firearms and fatally shot Shahid Latif, a militant and shut aide to Masood Azhar, the founding father of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group. They additionally shot and killed a worshipper whose id was not revealed.

No one instantly claimed accountability for the assault however native police chief Hassan Iqbal mentioned it appeared that Latif was deliberately focused. The police chief didn’t present additional particulars.

New Delhi has blamed Jaish-e-Mohammad for a number of previous assaults in India, together with the 2016 assault when seven troopers had been killed at a base within the city of Pathankot in northern India.

New Delhi officers didn’t instantly touch upon the assault. Media stories in India have mentioned that Latif was sought over the Pathankot assault.

In 2016, Pakistani authorities registered a case towards “unknown suspects” in reference to the assault after Indian investigators claimed that cellphone intercepts recommended the Pathankot attackers had come from Pakistan.

Pakistan and India have a protracted historical past of bitter relations. Since independence from Britain in 1947, the 2 South Asian rivals have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan area which is split between India and Pakistan and claimed in its entirety by each.