 Ahmed was born in Rochdale in Greater Manchester and moved to the Kashmir area of Pakistan at the age of seven or eight.At the age of 18, Ahmed was arrested by Indian forces after allegedly fighting as a member of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and was held in an Indian jail for seven years without charge; during this time Ahmed was also allegedly tortured.While incarcerated, Ahmed received money from Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who later allegedly had Daniel Pearl murdered.