Four months after India destroyed terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has for the first time confirmed that family members of its chief, Maulana Masood Azhar, were killed in the strikes.
In a video that has gone viral, Jaish commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, flanked by armed guards, said Azhar’s family had been “torn into pieces” in the May 7 strike on Jaish headquarters, Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah. Among the dead were Azhar’s sister, her husband, his nephew, his niece, and children from his extended family. Ten of his relatives and four aides were killed.
Big Expose 🚨 Jaish-E-Mohammad (JeM) commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri admits: On May 7, Masood Azhar’s family was ripped apart in Bahawalpur strike by Indian forces. But ISPR still shamelessly parades gun-toting terrorists as innocent civilians. pic.twitter.com/02qIMaUTWg
— Baba Banaras™ (@RealBababanaras) September 16, 2025
The Bahawalpur operation, part of India’s retaliation to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 people dead, was one of the most daring airstrikes inside Pakistan. Apart from Bahawalpur, eight other Jaish-linked terror sites were reduced to rubble. Satellite images later showed heavy damage to the mosque’s dome and extensive destruction inside.
While Pakistan never acknowledged the casualties, eyewitnesses and foreign media reported that state funerals were held in May for Azhar’s family members. Azhar himself reportedly appeared briefly before leaving the venue.
A UN-proscribed terrorist, Azhar is the mastermind behind the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing that killed 44 CRPF personnel. Once entrenched in Bahawalpur, he was last spotted in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Skardu, over 1,000 km away from his stronghold.
