Maulana Masood Azhar, top leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM), on Wednesday said 10 members of his family and four close associates have been killed in Indian missile attack on the Subhan Allah Mosque in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
A statement issued by JeM on Wednesday claimed that the deceased included Maulana Masood Azhar’s elder sister and her husband, Masood Azhar’s nephew and his wife, another niece, and five children from his family, report agencies.
Indian Ministry of Home Affairs branded Maulana Mohammad Masood Azhar as number one “terrorist”.
JeM criticized Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “This atrocity broke all the rules, no one should hope for mercy now”.
Fifty-six-year-old Masood Azhar, listed as an international terrorist by the UN Security Council, has been involved in the conspiracy behind multiple terror attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament attack, 2008 Mumbai attacks, 2016 Pathankot attack and 2019 Pulwama attack.
He said he has “neither regret nor despair”. “Rather, it comes to my heart again and again that I too would have joined this fourteen-member happy caravan,” he added. Maulana said, “Time for their departure had come, but the Lord did not kill them.” He also invited people to the funeral prayers (Janaza) on Wednesday.