The government on Saturday confirmed, Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists Hafiz Muhammed Jameel and Mohammad Yusuf Azhar – both brothers of UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar – were among those killed in the Operation Sindoor strikes by the Indian armed forces on 7 May, reported News 18.
The military had carried out precision strikes on 21 terror camps across 9 targets on the night of May 7 in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack that took place on April 22.
Among those killed was, Mudassar Khadian Khas alias Mudassar alias Abu Jundal.The Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist was In-charge of Markaz Taiba, Muridke in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
After he was killed, he received a guard of honour at his funeral by the Pakistani army. Hafiz Muhammed Jameel, the eldest brother-in-law of JeM chief Masood Azhar was also killed. He was In-charge of Markaz Subhan Allah, Bahawalpur. He was actively involved in the radical indoctrination of youth and fundraising for JeM.
Another brother-in-law of Masood Azhar,Mohammad Yusuf Azhar alias Ustad Ji alias Mohd Salim alias Ghosi Sahab was also killed. He was affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed. He handled weapons training for JeM and was involved in various terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. He was wanted in the Indian airlines IC-814 Kandhar hijacking case.
Khalid alias Abu Akasha, who was also killed,was linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and was involved in multiple terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. His role in Lashkar was to smuggle weapons from Afghanistan. His funeral, held in Faisalabad, senior Pakistani Army officials and the Deputy Commissioner of Faisalabad were present.
Mohammad Hassan Khan, played an important role in coordinating terrorist attacks in J&K was also killed. He was affiliated to Jaish-e-Mohammed and was the son of Mufti Asghar Khan Kashmiri, an operational commander of JeM in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Saturday held a special press briefing on the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Addressing the joint special briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh briefed the country about the current situation at the border with Pakistan.
India stated that it has responded in a "measured manner" to the ongoing provocations and escalations by Pakistan. "Pakistani activities have continued to escalate with provocation over the past two to three days. In response, India has defended and reacted in a measured fashion to these provocations and escalations by the Pakistani side. Earlier this morning, we saw a repeat of these escalatory and provocative factors," Misri said.
