Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi, sometimes referred to as Abdullah Azam or Zaki ur Rehman Lakhwi, is a founding member of Lashkar-e-Taiba and currently serves as Supreme Commander of operations in Kashmir and as a member of LeT’s General Council.

Lakhvi, 48, was born in the Okara district of Pakistan. He has directed military actions in Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq and South-east Asia. He is referred to as Chachu (uncle) by the young trainees.

In 1999, at a three-day annual congregation held at Muridke, 30 km from Lahore, he gave the reason for one of the fidayeen missions:“After the Pakistani withdrawal from Kargil and the Nawaz-Clinton statement in Washington, it was important to boost the morale of the Kashmiri people… These Fidayen missions were initiated to teach India a lesson as they were celebrating after the Kargil war“ He said that our next target would be New Delhi.

In 2006, he asked LeT’s members to begin training operatives for suicide bombings. In the past, he told operatives to mount attacks in well-populated areas. Indian officials claim Lakhvi also oversaw Azam Cheema, accused of being the leader in the 2006 bombing of the Mumbai rail network that killed more than 200 and left 700 injured.

In May 2008, US treasury department announced that it had frozen the assets of four Lashkar-e-Toiba leaders including Lakhvi[6]. His address was given as 2: Chak No. 18/IL, Rinala Khurd, Tehsil Rinala Khurd, District, Okara, Pakistan. Line 22: Line 22:

Involvement in November 2008 Mumbai Attacks

On December 3, 2008 Indian officials named him as one of four possible major planners behind the November 2008 Mumbai Attacks. He reportedly offered to pay the family of Azam Amir Kasav the sum of Rs.150,000 for his participation in the attacks. On December 7, 2008 Pakistani armed forces arrested Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi in a raid on an LeT training camp near Muzafarabad in Pakistani Kashmir. He was among 12 people detained. Pakistan confirmed the arrest but refused to hand over any of its citizens to Indian authorities. Authorities stated that any Pakistani citizen accused of involvement in the attack would be tried in Pakistan.