Islamabad, Sept 17: Jaish-e-Mohammad has admitted that family members of its chief, Masood Azhar, were killed in India’s Operation Sindoor strike in Bahawalpur. This is the first time the terror group has openly accepted such losses.

In a viral video, Jaish commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri said Azhar’s family was “torn into pieces” in the May 7 attack on the group’s headquarters, Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah.

India carried out the operation in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 25 tourists. The Indian Air Force targeted nine terror sites, including Bahawalpur, one of Pakistan’s largest cities.

At Bahawalpur, 10 members of Azhar’s family died. They included his sister, her husband, a nephew, a niece, and other children from the family. Four of his close aides were also killed in the early morning strike.