Masood Azhar Spotted in Gilgit-Baltistan: Will Pakistan Hand Over JeM Chief to India?

Contrary to recent claims by Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, fresh intelligence inputs indicate that India's most wanted terrorist, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, has been spotted in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This location is over 1,000 km from his known base in Bahawalpur, Punjab province.

Bilawal Bhutto had earlier suggested that Azhar may be hiding in Afghanistan. In fact, he went so far as to state that if the Indian government provided credible evidence of Azhar’s presence in Pakistan, Islamabad would arrest and hand him over.

"If and when the Indian government shares information with us that he is on Pakistani soil, we would be more than happy to arrest him,” he said in a recent interview.

However, despite growing international pressure and India’s recent suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan continues to harbor and support terror groups on its soil.

Masood Azhar, the founder of the UN-designated terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, is responsible for orchestrating several major terror attacks in India. These include the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2016 Pathankot airbase strike, and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF personnel.

In response to the recent terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting nine terror camps in Pakistan and PoK. Among the targets was JeM’s headquarters in Bahawalpur, where at least 10 of Azhar’s family members were reportedly killed. Despite the JeM's attempts to mislead intelligence agencies on Azhar's location, it has been learned that this is not the first time he has shifted from his base in Bahawalpur. After the 2019 Balakot air strikes, he was moved to a discreet safe house in Peshawar.

Azhar was once in Indian custody but was released in 1999 after his associates hijacked Indian Airlines Flight IC-814. Following his release, he founded Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has since been involved in numerous attacks against India.