Maulana Masood Azhar Family Members Killed In Operation Sindoor | Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar has acknowledged that 14 people, including 10 members of his family and four aides, were killed in India’s airstrikes under Operation Sindoor, launched in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives. The revelation marks a major blow to JeM and puts spotlight on the deep penetration of India’s precision military operation in Pakistan.
According to the statement attributed to Azhar, the missile strike on JeM’s headquarters — Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur — killed his elder sister, her husband, a nephew and his wife, a niece, and five children from his extended family. Two close aides were also among the deceased.
“Ten members of my family were blessed with this happiness together tonight… five are innocent children,” Azhar said, claiming that the deceased had become “guests of Allah” and inviting people to join funeral prayers. He added, “I have neither regret nor despair… Rather, it comes to my heart again and again that I too would have joined this fourteen-member happy caravan.”
Major Target Hit: JeM Base in Bahawalpur Destroyed
The Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah compound, long believed to serve as a covert JeM command centre, was one of the key targets in India’s multi-agency missile operation. The airstrike was part of the broader 24-missile barrage launched across nine terror-linked locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Muzaffarabad, Neelum Valley, Kotli, and Bahawalpur.
As per government sources, the high-precision strikes killed over 70 terrorists and injured more than 60, without hitting any Pakistani military infrastructure. The timing of the strikes — between 1:05 AM and 1:30 AM — was chosen specifically to reduce civilian casualties, aided by laser-guided bombs and satellite-monitored targeting systems.
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Despite the tightly controlled operation, officials confirmed that some civilian casualties, including members of Azhar’s family, did occur due to the deliberate placement of terror bases in civilian areas.
“The nature of asymmetric warfare often sees terrorist groups embed their facilities within populated areas,” a senior Indian defence source said. “Despite this, collateral damage was notably restrained due to India’s disciplined targeting and use of advanced munitions.”
Masood Azhar: UN-Listed Global Terrorist
56-year-old Maulana Masood Azhar, who was released by India in 1999 following the IC 814 hijacking, is a UN-designated global terrorist. He is accused of masterminding some of India’s deadliest terror attacks, including:
- The 2001 Indian Parliament attack
- The 2008 Mumbai attacks
- The 2016 Pathankot airbase attack
- The 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing
Though Pakistan continues to deny his presence, credible intelligence reports and now Azhar’s own statement confirm that he remains active within Pakistani territory.
Indian officials have maintained that Operation Sindoor was a measured, proportionate, and strategic military response aimed at dismantling cross-border terror infrastructure.
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“This was not just a retaliation, but a declaration of resolve. We struck terror hubs directly responsible for repeated attacks on our soil. Civilians were never the target,” an Indian official told reporters, showing visuals from the strike zones that highlighted surgical impact on compounds used by JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
In contrast, Pakistan has attempted to inflate claims of civilian casualties, a move Indian officials called an attempt to shift global sympathy away from the core issue of state-enabled terrorism.
