Jaish Chief Masood Azhar's Brother Dies In Pakistan. Cause Of Death Unknown

Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar's elder brother, Mohammad Tahir Anwar, has died in Pakistan, reportedly under mysterious circumstances.

The banned terrorist group's official channel said Anwar's funeral was scheduled to be held at Jamia Masjid Usman Wali in Pakistan's Bahawalpur on Monday. However, the exact cause of his death has not yet been disclosed.

Anwar was reportedly one of Masood Azhar's five brothers. He played a key role within Jaish-e-Mohammed and was actively involved in the terror outfit's operations.

Masood Azhar had last year claimed that 10 members of his family and four of his aides were killed in India's targeted airstrikes under Operation Sindoor to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack.

A statement attributed to Azhar, who was arrested in India in 1994 and released after the Air India IC 814 hijack, says that those killed in the strike on JeM headquarters -- Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur -- included his elder sister, her husband, a nephew and his wife, a niece, and five children from the extended family.

"Ten members of my family were blessed with this happiness together tonight... five are innocent children, my elder sister, her honourable husband. My scholar Fazil bhanje (nephew) and his wife and my beloved scholar Fazilah (niece)... my dear brother Huzaifah and his mother. Two more dear companions," he said, saying that those killed have become the guests of Allah.

He said he has "neither regret nor despair". "Rather, it comes to my heart again and again that I too would have joined this fourteen-member happy caravan," he added. The terrorist said, "Time for their departure had come, but the Lord did not kill them."

Listed as an international terrorist by the UN Security Council, Masood Azhar has been involved in the conspiracy behind multiple terror attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament attack, 2008 Mumbai attacks, 2016 Pathankot attack and 2019 Pulwama attack.