Syed Salahuddin is the ‘supreme commander’ of the Kashmiri militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, which is responsible for several terror attacks in the Valley, including the recent ones on policemen and their family members. The 75-year-old Hizb leader was designated a global terrorist by the United States of America on June 26, 2017.

Born Mohammed Yusuf Shah, Salahuddin rechristened himself after taking over the reins of Hizb in the late 80s. He is also the head of the United Jihad Council, an umbrella organisation of terror outfits that includes Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. These are reported to work out of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The militant outfit, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, is one of the many homegrown militant groups that have been fighting for independent Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan for decades. The group had claimed responsibility for the attack on the Pathankot military base in 2016.

Before he joined the Hizb, Salahuddin contested in the 1987 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections from the Amirakadal constituency. He was, however, unsuccessful. He then entered into militancy and became one of the key founders of Hizb.

He reportedly completed his MA in Political Science from Srinagar University in 1971 and has also written several poems. He later put together the Jamat-e-Islami after concluding his education.

Salahuddin, a native of Budgam district in Central Kashmir, has been open and vocal in his anti-India stand for long, now. His name also comes up in the ambit of supplying arms and training youths and sending them back to the Kashmir Valley. He was listed in NIA’s most-wanted list.

After Hizb militant commander Burhan Wani was killed in 2016, Salahuddin hailed Wani as a martyr. “If a peaceful solution is not reached then Pakistan should consider cutting off diplomatic ties with India over the killing of Wani,” Salahuddin had said in 2016.

He has five sons and two daughters and is married to Nafisa. Recently, two of his sons – Syed Shakeel Yusuf and Syed Shahid Yousuf – were among 11 people sacked from the Jammu and Kashmir administration over alleged terror links.

Shakeel is a medical assistant at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, while Shahid is an employee of the Agriculture department. Both were arrested earlier for receiving terror funds.

All five sons of Syed Salahuddin hold government jobs in the Valley.