Operation Sindoor : Jaish Admits Masood Azhar’s Family Torn Into Pieces During Strikes
New Delhi : Terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has, for the first time, admitted that family members of its chief, Masood Azhar, were killed during India’s strike in Bahawalpur as part of its Operation Sindoor. Kashmiri said Azhar’s family had been “torn into pieces” in the May 7 attack on Jaish headquarters – Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur.
The operation was launched in retaliation to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which left 25 tourists dead. Apart from Bahawalpur, eight other terror sites were reduced to rubble as India conducted its most daring airstrike deep inside Pakistan. In the strike on Bahawalpur, the 12th largest city in Pakistan located 400 km from Lahore, 10 of Azhar’s relatives were among those killed.
Satellite images showed heavy damage to one of the domes of the mosque and extensive destruction inside. While Pakistan never acknowledged the fact, eyewitnesses and foreign media reports said state funerals were held in May for Azhar’s family members. Azhar, who has rarely been seen in public, also made a brief appearance and left the venue within minutes.
A UN-proscribed terrorist, Azhar has been the mastermind of major terror attacks in India, including the 2016 Pathankot strike and the 2019 Pulwama attack, which left 44 soldiers dead. As per the latest intelligence inputs, accessed by India Today, Azhar was last spotted in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan region, more than 1,000 km away from his Bahawalpur stronghold.
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