Operation Sindoor: 10 family members, 4 aides of JeM chief Masood Azhar killed in Indian strikes

NEW DELHI: Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar on Wednesday said that 10 of his family members and his four close associates were killed in the 'Operation Sindoor' carried out by Indian Army.According to news agency PTI, Masood's family members were in Markaz Subhan Allah, located at NH-5 (Karachi-Torkham Highway) on the outskirts of Karachi Mor in Bahawalpur district of Pakistan's Punjab province. This was the main centre of Jaish-e-Mohammed for training and indoctrination of youth which is spread over a 15-acre area.The facility housed Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, de-facto chief Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, Maulana Ammar and other family members.This comes after the Indian Army conducted targeted strikes, eliminating nine terrorist bases belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen during 'Operation Sindoor' across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.The Indian Air Force executed precise attacks on four sites within Pakistan's borders, whilst five locations were targeted in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. The Ministry of Defence clarified that the operation was "focused, measured and non-escalatory" and deliberately steered clear of Pakistani military installations."These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered," the defence ministry said in a statement. "We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable," it said.