New Delhi: For the first time, a top commander of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has spoken of the ferocity of India’s strike on May 7 that marked the start of Operation Sindoor.
In a video that has now gone viral, Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, flanked by armed guards, is seen acknowledging the deaths of family members of the outfit’s chief Masood Azhar in Bahawalpur.
Azhar’s family were “torn to pieces” in the May 7 attack on the Jaish headquarters – Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah – in Bahawalpur, Kashmiri is heard as saying.
“After sacrificing everything, Maulana Masood Azhar’s family was torn apart by Indian forces in Bahawalpur on May 7,” Kashmiri said.
India launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 people dead. On May 7, India carried out precision strikes on Bahawalpur and eight other terror facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The sites were reduced to rubble, satellite images revealed.
Bahawalpur is the 12th largest city in Pakistan, located about 400 km from Lahore. Ten of Azhar’s relatives were among those killed. It included his sister, her husband, his nephew, his niece and children from his extended family. Many of his family members were also JeM terrorists. Four of Azhar’s aides were also killed in the pre-dawn attack.
Satellite images showed heavy damage to one of the domes of the mosque and extensive destruction inside.
Later, photographs of state funerals for Azhar’s relatives were circulated on social media. Pakistan Army officers and politicians were seen attending the funerals. Azhar, who is rarely seen in public, also made a brief appearance and left the venue within minutes.
Azhar, a UN-proscribed terrorist, has masterminded several major terror attacks in India, including the 2016 Pathankot strike and the 2019 Pulwama attack, which left 44 soldiers dead.
It has been reported that Azhar was recently spotted in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan region, more than 1,000 km away from his Bahawalpur stronghold.