Operation Sindoor eliminates top Jaish-e-Mohammad leadership including Abdul Rauf Azhar

NEW DELHI: Intelligence reaching here suggests that India's Operation Sindoor resulted in neutralising around a dozen high-value terrorists (HVTs), including Abdul Rauf Azhar, the operational head of Jaish-e-Mohammad and mastermind of the IC-814 hijacking. Azhar's elimination is significant in the global fight against terrorism, particularly given his role in facilitating the release of Omar Saeed Sheikh, who kidnapped and murdered American-Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.At just 24, Abdul Rauf Azhar etched his name into the annals of infamy by masterminding the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999.His brazen operation secured the release of his brother, Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and catapulted Rauf into the role of supreme commander of the terror outfit.As the right-hand man to his brother, Rauf Azhar orchestrated some of India's most devastating terrorist attacks, including the 2001 fidayeen strikes on the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Indian Parliament, the 2016 Pathankot airbase assault, and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.For years, Rauf Azhar evaded justice, operating from the shadows and fueling violence and bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond. But on Wednesday, his reign of terror came to an abrupt end when he succumbed to injuries sustained during a targeted strike by Indian forces on JeM's headquarters in Pakistan's Bahawalpur. The strike also claimed the lives of 10 family members of Masood Azhar, a stark reminder of the consequences of their actions. Rauf Azhar's demise marks a significant blow to the Jaish-e-Mohammad.On Wednesday, Masood Azhar released a statement claiming the devastating toll of the Bahawalpur attack on his family. Ten family members died, he alleged, even as he wished it was him who perished instead.The statement released by Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed that Azhar’s elder sister, her husband, a nephew and his wife, and a niece were among those deceased. With a heavy heart, Azhar described the victims as having attained a higher calling, now becoming "guests of Allah". “I feel no disappointment. In fact, my heart keeps wishing I joined this joyful group of fourteen pilgrims. Their departure was destined, yet it was not God who killed them,” said the notorious terrorist-in-chief, even as he invited the public at large to attend the funeral prayers scheduled for Wednesday at 4pm.Azhar, a 56-year-old terror mastermind sanctioned by the UN Security Council as a global terrorist, has been linked to several high-profile attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament assault, the 2008 Mumbai siege, the 2016 Pathankot assault, and the 2019 Pulwama attack. Despite widespread reports of his presence in Pakistan, the Pakistani govt maintained it was unaware of his location. Getting him on the global terrorist list was a challenge. India tried to get Azhar designated as a global terrorist under the UN Sanctions Committee for years, but China posed roadblocks to ensure security for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).Azhar’s core group was holed up at the Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, including Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar and other senior functionaries like Azhar's brothers and brother-in-law Yusuf Azhar, besides JeM’s head of PoJK, Mufti Asghar Khan Kashmiri, who was also the in-charge of the facility. Abdullah Jehadi alias Abdullah Kashmiri and Aashiq Nengroo (Indian fugitive) also operated from the centre. Mufti Asghar and Abdullah Jehadi are wanted accused in the Nagrota Attack of 2016. The same year, he orchestrated an attack on the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Mazar-e-Sharif.Masood Azhar was released from prison in 1999 in exchange for the lives of Indian Airlines hostages in the Kandahar hijack. He then rose to prominence in the global jihadist movement, formed Jaish-e-Mohammed, and orchestrated several major attacks on Indian targets, including the Parliament attack of 2001.