New Delhi: Abdul Rauf Azhar, also known as Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, the operational leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and brother of UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar, was reportedly one of the terrorists eliminated in Indian airstrikes targeting terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Wednesday.
India targeted nine terror sites, among them those of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, in response to the Pahalgam massacre, where 26 civilians were killed by terrorists.
Following the strikes, Operation Sindoor, Masood Azhar stated that 10 of his relatives, comprising his elder sister and her spouse, his nephew, and his nephew’s spouse, had been killed.
In 1999, Abdul Rauf Azhar planned the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814, resulting in the release of multiple militants, including his brother Masood Azhar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. Omar Saeed Sheikh was subsequently implicated in the abduction and execution of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi.
The BJP has asserted that Abdul Rauf Azhar, brother of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, was killed during India’s Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistani-Occupied Kashmir. This operation was a response to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives. One target was the Jaish headquarters in Bahawalpur. The BJP shared a post featuring Abdul Rauf Azhar’s photo labeled “eliminated.” He was a key figure in the 1999 Indian Airlines IC 814 hijacking. Masood Azhar confirmed the deaths of his family members in the airstrikes, expressing no remorse for the losses.
Intelligence reports indicate that India’s Operation Sindoor successfully neutralized approximately a dozen high-value terrorists, including the notorious Abdul Rauf Azhar, operational head of Jaish-e-Mohammad and mastermind of the 1999 IC-814 hijacking. This operation marks a significant advancement in the global fight against terrorism, especially as Azhar was integral in facilitating the release of Omar Saeed Sheikh, who kidnapped and murdered journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
Azhar, only 24 at the time of the hijacking, gained infamy by orchestrating a plan that released his brother, Maulana Masood Azhar, founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad. Under Rauf’s leadership, the group conducted devastating attacks in India, including the 2001 strikes on the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Indian Parliament, the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing.
Rauf Azhar’s reign of terror concluded following a targeted strike by Indian forces on JeM’s headquarters in Bahawalpur, which also resulted in the deaths of 10 of Masood Azhar’s family members. In response, Masood issued a statement, lamenting the loss while expressing a desire to join his deceased relatives, who he hailed as “guests of Allah.”
Masood Azhar, a 56-year-old designated global terrorist by the UN Security Council, has been implicated in numerous significant attacks in India, such as the 2001 Parliament assault, the 2008 Mumbai siege, the 2016 Pathankot incident, and the 2019 Pulwama attack.
