Masood Azhar's precarious health condition may compel Jaish-e-Mohammed to look for new face to head outfit

Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, social media was recently abuzz with unconfirmed reports about Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar’s supposed death. Days earlier, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had stated that the JeM chief is “ unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house.” Some reports even mentioned that Azhar was present at the terror camp in Balakot when the Indian Air Force (IAF) had carried out its air strikes on 26 February. [caption id=“attachment_4196853” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Masood Azhar. AFP[/caption] Two days later, on 3 March, Geo Urdu News, however, quoted unnamed sources to report that the JeM chief was “alive”, without elaborating much on his health. When asked about media reports claiming Azhar’s death, Pakistan’s Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also said that the administration was “not aware” about it, even as Indian officials claimed that the JeM chief is afflicted with renal failure and undergoes regular dialysis at the Pakistan Army Hospital. On Monday, again, Pakistan minister Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan said that Azhar was alive. Azhar among India’s most wanted terrorists The Jaish-e-Mohammad chief was a close associate of Osama bin Laden. A resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province, Azhar was arrested for preaching jihad in Jammu and Kashmir in 1994. One of India’s most wanted terrorists, he was released by the NDA government in 1999 in exchange for the hostages of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane IC-814. He has since been accused of masterminding the 2001 Parliament attack, the suicide attack on Jammu and Kashmir state Assembly, the attack on the Pathankot Indian Air Force base in 2016 and the 14 February Pulwama terror strike. Possible new faces of JeM While reports concerning Azhar’s supposed death cannot be substantiated as of now, his mysterious illness may in fact compel the terror organisation to look for a new face to head it. Here are some of the known probables: Abdul Rauf Asghar Azhar’s younger brother Abdul Rauf Asghar is a jihadist leader and deputy chief of the JeM. He is believed to be the head of JeM’s operations against India. Along with several other leaders of the outfit, Asghar had attended an annual conference at the Madrassa Teleemul-Quran at Jaba Top in April 2018, reported  Hindustan Times. JeM journal al-Qalam had quoted Asghar telling the gathering there about jihad’s importance and how it has helped repulse those fighting against Islam. Asghar, a primary accused in the Pathankot airbase attack, was quoted as saying, “The youth who rise from this madrasa have broken the arrogance of the mountains of Kashmir and lit the torch of jihad there, and they will, God willing, continue to keep it alight.” In 2017, Asghar had threatened to conduct a bigger strike than Pathankot. He was heard saying, in a footage accessed by the India Today, that “people will again remember Pathankot and Nagrota”. It is believed that Asghar is even more actively involved in the outfit’s activities than brother Azhar. Days before the Pulwama attack, on the ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’, he is quoted to have said that he was looking to terrorise India, reported The Times of India. India and France are likely to suggest the listing of Asghar as a global terrorist to the United Nations Security Council. Maulana Yusuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghauri  The conference at Jaba Top mentioned earlier was also attended by Azhar’s brother-in-law Maulana Yusuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghauri. Another influential member of the JeM, Yusuf reportedly ran the training camp in Balakot. Foreign Secretary of India Vijay Gokhale had even said that Yusuf was the main target of the IAF air strike. Yusuf is also the one who had led the hijacking of IC-814 that eventually made way for the release of Azhar and two other JeM members in exchange for the passengers aboard the Kathmandu to New Delhi flight. In 2002, the Indian government had handed over a list of 20 fugitives to Islamabad which featured Yusuf’s name, The Hindu reported. The same year Interpol, on the basis of a request by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), also opened a red corner notice against him. The Interpol notice mentions his place of birth as Karachi, Pakistan, and says that he is wanted in India for “hijacking, murder and kidnapping”, even as Indian intelligence officials recently said that Yusuf may have been killed in the air strike at Balakot. Mufti Asghar Khan Kashmiri and Mufti Mansoor Ahmad Next in line to becoming the JeM chief could also be either one of Azhar’s most trusted aides – Mufti Asghar Khan Kashmiri and Mufti Mansoor Ahmad. Both men were also part of the conference at Jaba Top in 2018. A secret conclave was organised in Rawalakot (in Pakistan occupied Kashmir) in 2017 to commemorate the “martyrdom” of several terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. One among several influential leaders there was Kashmiri, a resident of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and head of Kashmir operations. With inputs from agencies