Operation Sindoor has now taken an unprecedented turn after a rare and candid admission from within Jaish-e-Mohammad, where senior commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri publicly acknowledged that India’s May 7 retaliatory strike had “torn into pieces” the family of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar.

The target was JeM’s Bahawalpur headquarters, Markaz Subhanallah, a sprawling base situated along the Karachi–Torkham highway and once considered untouchable under ISI protection.


The facility had served as JeM’s nerve center for over two decades, hosting nearly 600 cadres while functioning as the planning hub for high-profile terror operations, including the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing.

By directly striking Bahawalpur, India not only dismantled longstanding infrastructure but also delivered a symbolic blow by hitting Azhar’s inner circle, rendering the outfit’s leadership fractured both operationally and personally.

The trigger for this escalation was the April 22 massacre in Kashmir’s Baisaran Valley, where Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives killed 26 Indian tourists in Pahalgam, marking one of the deadliest civilian-targeted terror attacks in years.

In response, India declared a zero-tolerance military campaign, executing coordinated precision strikes against nine major terror hubs across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Beyond Bahawalpur, Indian forces targeted Lashkar’s Muridke headquarters near Lahore, JeM and LeT forward launch pads in PoJK, as well as training centres long used for infiltration into India. Each strike was designed to dismantle the operational core of cross-border jihadist networks and degrade their command-and-control centres.

The initial wave prompted desperate Pakistani retaliation, with Islamabad attempting to push back using drones and missile salvos over consecutive nights. However, India’s layered air defence grid, including Akash and Barak-8 batteries, neutralised these attacks without incurring any civilian or infrastructure damage.

The failure of Pakistan’s counter-response led to a decisive second Indian strike package, this time aimed at degrading Pakistan’s military air power.

Nur Khan Airbase outside Rawalpindi and Rahim Yar Khan Airbase in Punjab province were both hit by precision weaponry, crippling parts of forward-deployed assets and signalling a calculated escalation by India that its retaliation wouldn’t remain limited to proxy infrastructure alone.

In the aftermath, Islamabad found itself scrambling diplomatically while facing pressure from within as videos like Kashmiri’s leaked to the public—rare admissions highlighting the extent of Indian penetrative capability.

The acknowledgment that Masood Azhar’s own kin were casualties has sent shock waves across jihadist ranks, likely weakening morale and recruitment channels at a time when JeM was already attempting to secure finances through a ₹3.91 billion fundraising drive disguised as mosque-building.

Paired with India’s continued diplomatic messaging at forums like the SCO and its growing counter-terror pacts—most recently with Brazil—the Bahawalpur strike has placed Pakistan’s covert terror sponsorship under renewed global scrutiny.

Based On ET News Report