Niaz Mir

Niaz Mir was born in Tordher, Pakistan on January 1, 1974. He had been living in Rome since 2002, when he entered Italy, and in 2011, he obtained his residence permit. He owned a clothing and jewellery business in Olbia and Rome, where he also operated a travel agency and a money transfer business. Mir was also a journalist of a fortnightly magazine catered towards the Pakistani community in Italy and was close to people working in the Pakistani Embassy.
Niaz Mir was arrested in April 2015, accused of being part of a terrorist network close to al-Qaeda and other jihadist organisations, operating between Olbia and Rome under the direction of Sultan Wali Khan. He was charged with terrorist association under Article 270 bis, and Law 4 of March 16, 2006, no. 146. Twenty-one other people were charged with similar offences.
According to court documents, the terrorist cell was responsible for seven attacks on infrastructures and high-profile figures in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009 and 2011, with the aim of forcing the government to stop fighting Talibans while financing the terrorist groups Theerek-E-Taliban and Theerek-E-Nifaz-E-Sharia-E-Mohammadi. Mir’s role was to coordinate all the funds collected within the Islamic communities of northern Sardinia, Lazio and Marche supposedly destined to finance terrorist activities in Pakistan. In the spring of 2009, Mir was involved in a collection of money to help the suffering population affected by the floods in Malakand, Pakistan. Sultan Wali Khan decided not to collaborate with him, as the funds he gathered were supposedly directed toward supporting the jihadist cause. In 2010, Mir played a minor role in collecting money, particularly in Rome, and the funds were supposedly directed towards organisations with ties to Islamic fundamentalism. The Tribunal of Sassari concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove that the money collected by Niaz Mir was destined for terrorist activities, leading to the conclusion that the funds were not used to support terrorist organisations or activities.
In the spring of 2010, Niaz Mir was implicated in the organisation of a potential terrorist attack in Rome, as part of the Olbia cell’s activities. Although the attack was ultimately not carried out due to police interventions, Mir was involved in the planning and coordination, receiving a person named Mushtaq, who was accompanied by someone referred to as a ‘kamikaze’. Mushtaq was hosted by Mir upon his arrival in Rome. A conversation between Mir, Sher Ghani and Zubair Shah involved the collection of money, which the prosecution believed was intended to support the arrival of this mysterious individual who was staying with Zubair Shah. When the police searched Zubair’s house, they found Muhammad Ishaq, who was linked to Muhammad Hafiz Zulkifal, further implicating Mir in the network surrounding the planned attack. Despite these activities, there remains uncertainty regarding the fate of Mushtaq, where he went, and how long he stayed.
On April 13, 2019, the Assize Court of Sassari acquitted Niaz Mir.