Ilyas Kashmiri

Ilyas Kashmiri, also referred to as Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri, Mufti Ilyas Kashmiri and Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri (10 February 1964 – 3 June 2011), was a Pakistani ex-Special Forces Islamist guerrilla insurgent who fought against Indian troops in Kashmir. NBC News reported that United States officials had mentioned him as a possible successor to Osama bin Laden as head of Al-Qaeda. Prior to his death, a CNN News headline called him the "most dangerous man on Earth", while the late journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad said of him that "he is invariably described by the world intelligence agencies as the most effective, dangerous, and successful guerrilla leader in the world." Military career and militant activities Physically described by the US Department of State as "approximately six feet tall" and weighting "about 200 pounds", Kashmiri was born on 10 February 1964 in Bhimber, in the Samahni Valley of Kashmir, Pakistan. Kashmiri was reported by some media sources as having served in the Pakistan Army's elite Special Services Group (SSG), however he denied this in an interview with journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad.