New Delhi: UN-designated terrorist and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar is likely to receive Rs 14 crore as compensation from the Pakistani government for the 14 members of his family killed in Operation Sindoor launched by India on May 7. Among those killed were two of his brothers-in-law – both of them proscribed terrorists.
Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif has announced comprehensive support and a compensation of Rs 1 crore per deceased for the legal heirs of those killed in the strikes, according to a press release from the Pakistan PMO.
Operation Sindoor was India’s reaction to the massacre of 26 persons, most of them tourists from across the country, in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22. Investigations revealed that the attack was masterminded in Pakistan and those directly involved, included at least two terrorists from that country.
India then selected nine targets – all of them terror facilities – across Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and carried out high-precision strikes on them, with air-to-surface missiles. Over 100 terrorists were killed in these strikes.
Among the targets was the Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah, also known as the Usman-o-Ali campus of the JeM in Bahawalpur — Pakistan’s 12th-largest city and the operational hub of the organisation. Bahawalpur is located about 400 km from Lahore.
A statement attributed to Azhar confirmed that the deceased included his elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife, a niece and five children from his extended family. With Azhar possibly the sole surviving legal heir, he could now be entitled to Rs 1 crore each for the 14 family members killed, amounting to a total payout of Rs 14 crore.
Adding to the row, PM Sharif’s relief announcement also included a commitment to rebuild houses destroyed in the Indian strikes — a move that has drawn scrutiny. Indian defence officials have many times reiterated that the May 7 strikes were precision operations targeting only terror camps, and that no civilian areas were affected. With Pakistan now promising to rebuild the structures, India is expected to closely monitor whether these facilities are again re-purposed for terror training or activities.
