JeM chief Azhar loses 10 family members, 4 associates in Operation Sindoor
Bahawalpur became hub of JeM after Azhar was released in exchange for passengers of an Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan in 1999
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar admitted on Wednesday that 10 members of his family and four close associates died in India's missile attack on the group's headquarters in Bahawalpur.
A statement attributed to Azhar said those killed at Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah included his elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife, another niece and five children from his extended family.
Azhar vows vengeance
The statement said the attack also claimed the lives of one of Azhar's close associates and his mother along with two other close companions.
"This act of brutality has broken all boundaries. There should be no expectation of mercy now," the statement added.
Global Terrorist
Bahawalpur became the hub of the JeM after Azhar was released in exchange for the passengers of Indian Airlines-814 when it was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan in 1999.
In May 2019, the UN designated Azhar a "global terrorist" after China lifted its hold on a proposal to blacklist the JeM chief.
JeM and India
The elusive Azhar, who has not been seen in public since April 2019, is believed to be hiding in a "safe place" in Bahawalpur.
The group has been involved in a series of terror attacks in India, including the Parliament attack in 2001, on the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in 2000, on the IAF base in Pathankot in 2016 and the Pulwama suicide bombing in 2019.
Pakistan admits 26 dead
Meanwhile, information minister Azma Bokhari in Pakistan’s Punjab province said that all those injured in the Bahawalpur attack have been shifted to the Victoria Hospital and given the best treatment.
The Pakistan military said 26 people were killed and 46 others injured in the Indian military strike which followed the terrorist massacre of over two dozen civilians at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22.