Jaish-e-Mohammed changes name to Majlis Wurasa-e-Shuhuda Jammu wa Kashmir after Masood Azhar's younger brother takes control: Report

The terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has changed its name in an attempt to avoid international scrutiny after the younger brother of its chief Masood Azhar has taken control,  Hindustan Times reported. The terror group, under the leadership of Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, has renamed itself Majlis Wurasa-e-Shuhuda Jammu wa Kashmir, as per the report. [caption id=“attachment_4199375” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Masood Azhar. Reuters[/caption] Jaish has re-emerged with a new name but the same leadership and terrorist cadre; it was previously known as Khudam-ul-Islam and Al Rehmat Trust, as per the report. The flag of Jaish’s new avatar Majlis Wurasa-e-Shuhuda Jammu wa Kashmir (which roughly translates to “gathering of the descendents of martyrs of Jammu and Kashmir”) is the same of its mother outfit with only change of word “Al-Islam” in place of “Al-Jihad”, the report noted. In September, Pakistan released Masood — who has been listed as a global terrorist by the United Nations — from preventative custody. The news comes a day after Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat said Pakistan has reactived its Balakot terror camp and that  500 infiltrators were waiting to sneak into India. The response to the terror camp getting functional again may go beyond India’s previous response by way of an airstrike in February, he told reporters at the Officers Training Academy Chennai. The Indian Army Chief’s statement on the reactivation of terror camp in Balakot is “completely baseless”, the Pakistan foreign office said in a statement. The allegation of “infiltration” from Pakistan reflects “a desperate attempt” of India to divert international attention from the “humanitarian crisis” in Jammu and Kashmir, it said, adding that New Delhi will not “succeed in misleading the world community through these diversionary tactics”. Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after India on 5 August revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories. Reacting to India’s move on Kashmir, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner. Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 was its “internal matter” and asked Islamabad to accept the reality and stop its anti-India rhetoric. Early this year, tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a Jaish suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on 26 February. With inputs from agencies