Islamabad: In a startling admission, a senior commander of the proscribed militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has claimed that the family of its chief, Masood Azhar, suffered devastating losses during “Operation Sindoor,” a cross-border strike launched by Indian forces on militant hubs in Bahawalpur. The revelation has added a fresh layer of intensity to the long-standing tensions between India and Pakistan.
According to Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a Jaish commander who released a statement through social media channels, nearly ten members of Azhar’s extended family were killed in the assault. Among the casualties, he said, were Azhar’s elder sister, her husband, their children, and long-time confidants of the JeM chief. Kashmiri specifically named Muhammad Yusuf Azhar, Masood Azhar’s brother-in-law, as being among the dead.
Bahawalpur, located in Punjab province some 400 kilometers from Lahore, has long been flagged by India as the operational headquarters of JeM. Kashmiri’s statement also conceded that the targeted area included arms depots and training facilities, underscoring India’s claim that Bahawalpur remains central to JeM’s militant activities.
While Indian authorities have not confirmed the specific deaths of Azhar’s relatives, they earlier claimed that “Operation Sindoor” neutralized more than eighty operatives from Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, and Jaish-e-Mohammed combined. Pakistan, however, has repeatedly rejected these figures, accusing India of exaggeration and insisting that no large-scale militant casualties have been independently verified.
The confirmation of family casualties, if verified, marks a significant escalation in the human toll of cross-border strikes. Analysts warn that such losses may galvanize Jaish fighters by framing the conflict in personal and emotional terms, potentially strengthening recruitment narratives. For India, however, the revelation could invite closer international scrutiny over collateral damage, particularly if non-combatants were indeed among the dead.
JeM has long been at the center of Indo-Pak hostilities. Masood Azhar, designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations, has been accused of masterminding multiple attacks on Indian soil, including the 2001 Parliament assault, the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing that killed over forty Indian security personnel.
Despite international pressure, Pakistani authorities have faced criticism for failing to dismantle JeM’s networks. The news of Azhar’s family being directly struck, however, underscores how militant infrastructure and personal lives remain dangerously intertwined in conflict zones.
What remains uncertain is the full extent of casualties and whether neutral observers will be allowed to assess the impact of “Operation Sindoor.” Until then, both nations are likely to continue advancing competing narratives India emphasizing militant losses and Pakistan highlighting potential civilian harm.
The commander’s admission, however, has shifted the conversation. By publicly acknowledging the deaths of Azhar’s kin, Jaish itself has drawn attention to the personal cost of the conflict, ensuring that “Operation Sindoor” will remain a flashpoint in the already volatile Indo-Pak dynamic.