In a powerful and strategic response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Indian Armed Forces on early Wednesday launched a series of precision missile strikes against nine terror camps located deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).  

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The retaliatory action, code-named Operation Sindoor, marks one of the most decisive and wide-reaching Indian military offensives against cross-border terror infrastructure in recent years. 

Among the nine identified targets were key installations of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—two Pakistan-based terror outfits that have been behind some of the deadliest attacks on Indian soil for the past three decades. 

Strikes in Bahawalpur: The heart of JeM 

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One of the main targets of the strike was Bahawalpur, a major city in Pakistan's Punjab province, and the ideological and operational nerve center of JeM. Located around 400 km from Lahore, Bahawalpur houses the infamous Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah complex, also known as the Usman-o-Ali campus, where JeM’s leadership reportedly directs fundraising, recruitment, and radical indoctrination activities.

Also Read: Who are Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wg Cdr Vyomika Singh, the officers who lead key military briefing on Operation Sindoor

According to several media reports, one of the missile targets was a madrasa associated with Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder of JeM and a UN-designated global terrorist.  

Although initial reports confirmed major damage to the compound, there is no official confirmation yet on whether Azhar was present or killed in the strikes. 

Who is Masood Azhar? 

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Maulana Masood Azhar, born in 1968 in Bahawalpur, has long been one of India’s most wanted terrorists. Before founding JeM, Azhar was an active member and cleric with Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), an Islamist militant outfit active in Afghanistan and Kashmir. In 1994, Azhar was arrested in Jammu and Kashmir while attempting to mediate between feuding factions of HuM under a fake identity. 

Azhar's notoriety skyrocketed in December 1999, when HuM hijacked Indian Airlines Flight IC-814, which was en route from Kathmandu to Delhi. The hijackers diverted the aircraft to Kandahar, Afghanistan, then under Taliban control. After days of tense negotiations, India released Azhar along with Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Zargar in exchange for the 190 passengers and crew members. 

Also Read: Operation Sindoor LIVE: 'India's response is proportionate, non-escalatory and responsible,' says Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri

 Shortly after his release, Azhar publicly declared his goal of "destroying India" and founded Jaish-e-Mohammed on January 31, 2000, in Karachi. The organisation was reportedly backed by the ISI, the Taliban, and even Osama bin Laden, and drew heavily from the Deobandi school of radical Islam. 

JeM’s deadly attacks 

Since its inception, JeM has been responsible for some of the most heinous terrorist attacks on Indian soil. These include: 

April 2000: The first suicide bombing in Kashmir, in Srinagar, killed 4 soldiers. 

October 2001: A massive car bombing outside the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly killed over 30 people. 

December 2001: JeM and LeT operatives stormed the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, killing 14 people. The attack brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. 

January 2016: JeM operatives attacked the Pathankot Air Force base, killing three Indian security personnel. 

September 2016: In the Uri attack, 19 Indian soldiers were killed. India responded with cross-LoC surgical strikes. 

February 2019: A suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama. India responded with airstrikes in Balakot, reportedly destroying a JeM training camp. 

Masood Azhar was listed as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council on May 1, 2019, following a resolution backed by India, France, the US, and the UK. The listing came after years of Chinese vetoes that had blocked previous attempts. 

Azhar’s ties with groups like Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are well documented. He reportedly visited Afghanistan to seek the blessings of Osama bin Laden before launching JeM. His earlier group, Harkat-ul-Ansar, which evolved into HuM, was designated as a terrorist organisation by the CIA in the late 1990s. The CIA reported that HuA was involved in kidnappings and killings of Westerners, and served Pakistan’s proxy interests in Kashmir. 

Who is Hafiz Saeed? 

LeT is led by Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of several past attacks on India. The LeT campus in Muridke is spread across nearly 200 acres and includes terror training facilities and other infrastructure. It also houses Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front organisation for LeT. 

As overall leader, Saeed played a key role in LeT’s operational and fundraising activities. He is the Amir or leader of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa 

In 2005, Saeed determined where graduates of a LeT camp in Pakistan should be sent to fight, and personally organized the infiltration of LeT militants into Iraq during a trip to Saudi Arabia. 

In 2006, Saeed reportedly oversaw the management of a terrorist camp, including funding of the camp. Saeed also arranged for a LeT operative to be sent to Europe as LeT’s European fundraising coordinator. He established a LeT office in Quetta, Pakistan in June 2006 to assist the Taliban in the conduct of their operations in Afghanistan.