A fugitive wanted in the IC-814 hijacking case, relatives of Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM) chief Maulana Masood, and others with key roles in banned terror groups JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
These are among the terrorists killed on Day 1 of Operation Sindoor when Indian defence forces targeted nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir, according to top officials in the security establishment.
Officials aware of the matter identified one of the slain terrorists as Mohammad Yusuf Azhar aka Ustad Ji, wanted in the 1999 IC 814 hijacking case. Azhar, also the brother in law of JeM chief, Maulana Masood Azhar, handled weapons training for Jaish-e-Mohammed, the officials added. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in an all party meeting on Thursday said that at least 100 terrorists were killed in the precision strikes according to people present.
Four other slain terrorists were also identified: Mudassar Khadian Khas, Hafiz Muhammed Jameel, Khalid alias Abu Akasha, and Mohammad Hassan Khan, the officials said.
Khas aka Abu Jundal, who was in charge of the Markaz Taiba in Muridke was a LeT operative. Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist caught alive during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, had confessed that he received his training at this camp. David Headley, another terrorist involved in 26/11, also reportedly trained here.The Pakistan Army accorded a guard of honour at Jundal’s funeral and wreaths were laid on behalf of the Pakistan Army Chief and Punjab CM (Maryam Nawaz). “A serving lieutenant governor and IG of Punjab Police attended the funeral prayer held in a government school, led by Hafiz Abdul Rauf of JuD (a designated global terrorist),” one of the officials said.
In the early hours of Wednesday, India carried out precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure at nine sites in territories, controlled by Pakistan, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. The 26-minute action codenamed “Operation Sindoor” was conducted with a mix of missiles and smart munitions fired by aircraft and ground forcesand targeted bases of UN-proscribed terror groups LeT and JeM located across the international border and the Line of Control (LoC). No civilians were targeted in the operation.
Senior Pakistan army officials were also present in the funeral of another neutralised terrorist, Khalid aka Abu Akasha. Khalid, was responsible for weapons smuggling from Afghanistan and also involved in terror cases across J&K.
Maulana Masood’s eldest brother in law, Hafiz Muhammed Jameel, also killed in the attacks on the early hours of May 7, was actively involved in radical indoctrination of youth and fund-raising for JeM, the officials said.
And Mohammad Hassan Khan, a JeM operative, was the son of Mufti Asghar Khan Kashmiri, operational commander of JeM in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and has played a key role in the attacks across J&K, the officials added.