Ten family members of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar have reportedly been killed in an Indian airstrike in Pakistan, according to a statement made by Azhar. Among the deceased were five children.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Masood Azhar accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of targeting innocent children, unmarried women, and the elderly. He expressed that the grief and shock are indescribable.
Azhar stated that the victims included his elder sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece.
India’s military claimed responsibility for the airstrikes, stating that it targeted “terror infrastructure” at nine locations in Pakistan’s Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. They insisted that no civilian or military installations were targeted.
However, Pakistan rejected this claim, stating that the airstrikes targeted civilian areas and places of worship in six different regions, resulting in many civilian casualties.
Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistan-based militant group that seeks to merge Indian-administered Kashmir with Pakistan. The group has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council and the United States since 2001. Efforts to impose international sanctions on Azhar have been repeatedly blocked by China through its veto power.
India has long blamed the group for cross-border violence. The Indian military also reported targeting Hizbul Mujahideen establishments during Tuesday’s operation.