Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) chief and UN-designated terrorist, Masood Azhar has been spotted in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's Gilgit-Baltistan region, more than 1,000 km away from Bahawalpur, which is considered the nerve centre of Jaish-e-Mohammed, according To India Today. Azhar was recently spotted in Skardu.
Days ago, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari claimed Islamabad is not aware of the whereabouts of Azhar, adding that the country would be "happy to" arrest him if India gives information that he is on Pakistani soil.
Bhutto, made the comments during an interview with Al Jazeera while responding to a question about extraditing Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as possible concessions and good-faith gestures to India, Dawn newspaper reported.
The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chief said, Hafiz Saeed is not a free man in Pakistan and Azhar may be in Afghanistan.
Who Is Massod Azhar?
Masood Azhar has been the mastermind of several terrorist activities, including the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack, which killed over 40 soldiers.
Azhar was once in Indian custody and was released after the Kandahar hijack in exchange of the hostage passengers. Soon after his release, Azhar formed the Jaish e Mohammad.
Operation Sindoor
Operation Sindoor, involved the Indian military executing precision strikes on nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan. The primary targets were infrastructure and operatives linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
The strike included terror infrastructure in Bahawalpur, home to JeM’s operational base. The campus, known as Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah or the Usman-o-Ali campus, serves as JeM's headquarters.
According to media reports, those killed included Azhar’s elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife, a niece, and several children from his extended family.
Pakistan Rebuilding Terror Infrastructure
Earlier last month, there were reports that Pakistan has started reconstructing terror infrastructures like terrorist launchpads and training camps that were destroyed during India's precision military strikes under Operation Sindoor in May, according to NDTV.
