Pak army chief issued orders to attend funeral of JeM militants killed in Indian attack: JeM commander

Lahore, Sep 18 (PTI) Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir had issued direct orders to the Corps Commander of Bahawalpur and soldiers to attend the funeral of those killed in the Indian missile strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammad's headquarters on May 7, a top commander of the terror group has said.

In a video that went viral on Thursday, JeM commander Ilyas Kashmiri also said that the Pakistan Army and the jihadis have become one after 25 years of his outfit's struggle.

"After the struggle of 25 years, we have brought the state, Pakistan Army, Air Force and Navy on the jihadi ideology. Those who were killed (on the May 7 Indian attack) belonged to JeM, and it was the Pakistan Army and Air Force that had taken their revenge...Tell me, isn't it true?" he said.

Kashmiri further disclosed that after the attack on JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur, some 400 km from Lahore, Army Chief Munir issued direct orders from GHQ Rawalpindi to the Corps Commander (Bahawalpur) and soldiers to attend the funeral of those killed in the Indian attack at JeM headquarters and pay tribute to them.

JeM chief Masood Azhar's 10 family members and four close associates were killed in India's attack on the outfit's headquarters in Bahawalpur in the Indian strikes on May 7 as part of Operation Sandoor.

The Pakistan Army generals, senior police officers, and top bureaucrats had attended the funerals of those killed in Indian strikes.

In an earlier viral clip uploaded to a YouTube channel on Tuesday, the JeM commander had admitted that Azhar's family was "torn into pieces" in Indian missile strikes.

Kashmiri was reportedly speaking at the Mission Mustafa Conference in Pakistan's Punjab province on September 6.

Standing among several gun-wielding men, he said: "To protect the ideological and geographical boundaries of this country, we hit (wage a jihad in) Delhi, Kabul and Kandhar. And after sacrificing everything, on May 7, Maulana Masood Azhar's family members in Bahawalpur were torn into pieces (in Indian strikes)." Tensions between India and Pakistan soared after terrorists killed 26 people, mostly civilians, in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22.

In a powerful retaliation to the Pahalgam massacre, Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes on the terror targets, including Bahawalpur, a stronghold of the JeM terror group, on May 7 as part of Operation Sindoor.

A statement attributed to Azhar at the time said that India’s attack on Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur resulted in the death of 10 of his family members and four close associates.

Those killed included Azhar's elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife, another niece, and five children from his extended family.

The statement further mentioned that the attack also claimed the lives of one of Azhar’s close associates and his mother, along with two other close companions.

Bahawalpur became the hub of the JeM after the release of Azhar in exchange for the hijacked passengers of IC-814 in 1999. PTI MZ ZH ZH