Masood Azhar, the UN-designated global terrorist and India’s ‘most wanted’, was reportedly attacked by some unidentified men in Pakistan’s Bahawalpur. Some local media reports from across the border suggest that Jaish-e-Mohammed founder was killed in an explosion outside a mosque located in Punjab Province in early morning hours.
There has been no official statement regarding the attack, which reportedly took place due to some personal enmity. The reports come days after some social media handles had claimed that Bombay serial blast mastermind Dawood Ibrahim was murdered in suspected poisoning. Masood Azhar has been named in several chargesheets by the Indian authorities in several terror attacks. From 2001 Parliament attack to Pathankot, here are major attacks in which Masood Azhar played a major role:
2016 Pathankot Attack: Azhar’s Jaish-e-Mohammed played key roles in major attacks in Jammu and Kashmir during 2014 and 2015 after Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged. After this, in 2016, Masood Azhar targeted an Indian Air Force airbase. Four gunmen from the Afzal Guru squad breached the security and entered the premises of the IAF base in Punjab’s Pathankot on January 2, 2016. The terror attacks had claimed lives of six security personnel.
2016 Uri Attack: In the same year of Pathankot attack, Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist carried out the dastardly attack in Uri. On September 18, 2016, four JeM gunmen targeted an Indian Army Brigade headquarters based in in Uri. The pre-dawn ambush near the Line of Control killed 17 armymen.
2019 Pulwama Attack: Three years later on February 14, 2019, a convoy of 78 vehicles transporting nearly 2,000 CRPF personnel were targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber, who rammed his IED-laden vehicle at Lethpora in Pulwama. Over 40 CRPF men were killed in the attack.