Ilyas Kashmiri, also referred to as Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri and Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri (10 February 1964 – 3 June 2011), was a senior al-Qaeda operative and leader of the Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI) He was also connected with the Soviet-Afghan war, the Kashmir conflict and attacks against India, Pakistan and the United States. In August 2010, the US and the United Nations designated him a terrorist. NBC News reported that United States officials had mentioned him as a possible successor to Osama bin Laden as head of al-Qaeda.