New Delhi: At least 10 family members and 4 aides of Masood Azhar, who is the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, reportedly died following Operation Sindoor by Indian Armed Forces early on Wednesday.
Television reports have made this claim, citing a purported list of names of injured or casualties released by the neighbouring country.
However, it is unclear whether Azhar has managed to escape or died. Meanwhile, Times Now NavBharat television channel claimed that Azhar reportedly admitted at least 10 of his family members had died. But the channel, in one of its broadcast, claimed that this could be a mere propaganda being spread by Pakistan to establish that Azhar was alive and only others had died.
Azhar was designated by the United Nations as a global terrorist in 2019. He is linked to major attacks like the 2001 Indian Parliament and 2019 Pulwama bombings.
He was released from Indian custody in 1999 after a hostage crisis.
Among the 9 targets that India had hit, one was Bahawalpur, Pakistan’s 12th largest city. It reportedly served as the nerve centre of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terror group, which had been behind multiple attacks on Indian soil over the past two decades. Located around 400 km from Lahore, Bahawalpur houses the group’s operational headquarters at the Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah.
Know Who is Masood Azhar?
JeM’s founder, Maulana Masood Azhar, is a central figure in the history of terrorism in South Asia. He was born in Bahawalpur in 1968. Azhar was a cleric with Harkat-ul-Mujahideen before being arrested by Indian authorities in 1994. His infamy soared after his release in 1999. He was released in exchange for the hostages of the IC-814 hijacking in Kandahar.
On the other hand, news agency ANI has shared visuals of the destruction caused at the terror camps in Pakistan on X. Here’s what the scene in Pakistan now looks like, check below:
#WATCH | “4 drones came…panic everywhere”, says local in Pakistan’s Muridke, giving an eyewitness account of India’s Operation Sindoor against terror targets
A local says, “At around 12:45 in the night, first one drone came, followed by three other drones, and they attacked… pic.twitter.com/BUsQ1h31RR
— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2025
A first reaction from the locals in Muridke, Pakistan has also surfaced. “At around 12:45 in the night, one drone came first, followed by three other drones, and they attacked the mosques…everything is crushed,” an eye-witness told Reuters.
#WATCH | First reaction from Pakistan, Muridke as eyewitness account of India’s #OperationSindoor against terror targets inside Pakistan.
A local says, “At around 12:45 in the night, one drone came first, followed by three other drones, and they attacked the mosques…everything… pic.twitter.com/EJ68G8U0nF
— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2025
