New Delhi, Sep 21 (NVI) Family members of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar were killed in the Indian air strike of May 7, which targeted the terror outfit’s headquarters in Bahawalpur in Pakistani Punjab, according to a top commander of the group.
Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a close associate of Masood Azhar, disclosed that the bodies of these relatives were “turned into mince” by the Indian bombings.
He, however, did not specify about the fate of Azhar, who has not been seen in public since the May 7 air strikes by India under ‘Operation Sindoor’ to avenge the massacre of 26 innocent people in Pahalgam in Kashmir on April 22 by JeM terrorists.
On the fateful night of May 6 and 7, India carried out air strikes at 9 major terror installations in Pakistan, an action which is believed to have killed hundreds of anti-India terrorists and jihadis.
Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, while addressing a public rally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan recently, said the killing of Masood Azhar’s family members had prompted
Gen Asim Munir, the then Chief of Army Staff (now elevated to Field Marshal), to order General Headquarters to direct military commanders to attend the funerals of JeM terrorists.
As per the directive, Pakistan Air Force provided overhead security and soldiers in uniform offered salute to the dead JeM operatives at their funerals.
This was in full public view, thus removing any doubts about the proximity between the Pakistani military and anti-India terrorists.
At the rally, Masood Ilyas Kashmiri spoke about jihad and urged the participants to enroll.
According to latest inputs, Jaish is planning to hold another major event on September 25 in Peshawar’s ‘Marakaz Shaheed Maksudabad’ to commemorate the killing of Yusuf Azhar, brother of Masood Azhar, in Operation Sindoor.
Pamphlets distributed in KPK confirm that the event will be staged under the banner of JeM’s alias ‘Al-Murabitun’ (meaning ‘defenders of land of Islam’). This is because JeM is an outfit listed as a Terrorist Organisation by the United Nations.
Interestingly, the name Al-Murabitun seems similar to Al-Qaeda in Western Africa. (NVI)
