Masood Azhar says 14, including 10 relatives, killed in Operation Sindoor strike

Following Operation Sindoor JaisheMohammad JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar acknowledged on Wednesday that 10 members of his family and four close associates were killed in Indias missile attack on the outfits headquarters in Bahawalpur reported news agency PTIA statement attributed to Azhar said those killed in the attack on Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur included the JeM chiefs elder sister and her husband a nephew and his wife another niece and five children from his extended family reported PTIThe statement further mentioned that the attack also claimed the lives of one of Azhars close associates and his mother along with two other close companionsThis act of brutality has broken all boundaries There should be no expectation of mercy now it added reported PTIBahawalpur became the hub of the JeM after the release of Azhar in exchange for the hijacked passengers of IC814 in 1999In May 2019 the United Nations designated Azhar a global terrorist after China lifted its hold on a proposal to blacklist the JeM chief a decade after New Delhi approached the world body for the first time on the issueThe elusive Azhar who has not been seen in public since April 2019 is believed to be hiding in a safe place in BahawalpurThe group has been involved in a series of terror attacks in India including the Parliament attack in 2001 the strike on the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in 2000 the attack on the IAF base in Pathankot in 2016 and the Pulwama suicide bombing in 2019Meanwhile Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said that all those injured in the Bahawalpur attack have been shifted to Victoria Hospital and given the best treatmentThe Pakistan military said that 26 people were killed and 46 others injured in the attackRetaliating against the Pahalgam terror attack Indian armed forces on early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and PakistanOccupied Kashmir including the JaisheMohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and LashkareTaibas base in MuridkeThe military strikes were conducted under Operation Sindoor two weeks after the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civiliansA little while ago the Indian Armed forces launched Operation Sindoor hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistanoccupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed the defence ministry said in a statement at 144 amPakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed the Indian missile strikes an act of war and said his country has every right to give a befitting replyThe Indian statement said No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of executionIt said the actions by the Indian armed forces have been focused measured and nonescalatory in nature and that no Pakistani military facilities have been targetedWith inputs from PTIatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params