Islamabad: A Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander admitted that Indian forces killed several relatives of Masood Azhar during Operation Sindoor in Bahawalpur, NDTV reported.
In a viral video, JeM commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri recounted the attack. “On May 7, Maulana Masood Azhar’s family was torn apart by Indian forces in Bahawalpur,” he said in Urdu, surrounded by gunmen.
India launched Operation Sindoor weeks after terrorists killed 26 civilians in Pahalgam. Armed forces struck nine terror hubs of JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, hitting Bahawalpur, Kotli, and Muridke. Pakistan later confirmed that all nine sites were destroyed.
Bahawalpur, about 400 km from Lahore, serves as JeM’s stronghold. Its Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah, or Usman-o-Ali campus, hosts the outfit’s headquarters. Pakistani media earlier quoted Masood Azhar saying that the strikes killed 10 of his family members.
Azhar remains in hiding. Former Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said in June that Islamabad would arrest him if India provides proof of his presence on Pakistani soil.
Experts now regard Operation Sindoor as one of India’s strongest counter-terror responses in recent years.
