Pakistan's Bhutto says Jaish-e-Mohammed Chief Masood Azhar 'may be in Afghanistan'

Pakistani leader Bilawal Bhutto has said that the government has no knowledge about Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar’s whereabouts. Azhar is one of India’s most-wanted terrorists.

While talking to Al Jazeera, Bhutto said that the government in Islamabad is ready to nab Azhar if India can provide credible information related to his existence on Pakistani soil.

“If and when the Indian government shares information with us that he is on Pakistani soil, we would be more than happy to arrest him. The fact is, the Indian government is not…” he said.

Masood Azhar, who has been linked to several major terror attacks in India, such as the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, and the 2019 Pulwama bombing, was declared a global terrorist by the United Nations in 2019. He had earlier been released from Indian custody in 1999 during a hostage swap after the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in Kandahar.

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India has repeatedly sought his extradition along with Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, but Islamabad has always denied harbouring the two terrorists in the country despite evidence that points to their stay in Pakistan.

Talking about Saeed’s arrest, while referring to a New York Times report, Bhutto said, “That’s not accurate. That’s factually not correct that Hafiz Saeed is a free man. He is in the custody of the Pakistani state.”

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader added that while Islamabad has not been able to arrest Azhar, he suggested that, given the terrorist’s “past within the Afghan jihad context,” the JeM chief might be hiding in Afghanistan.

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Earlier this week, Bhutto asked New Delhi to join its so-called efforts to combat terrorism and forge a “historic” partnership. He said, “Pakistan is ready to forge a historic, phenomenal partnership with India to jointly combat terror.”

“Not as adversaries playing a zero-sum game but as neighbours who share a moral and civilisational obligation to save a billion souls from the plague of extremism. All it requires is from India’s leadership is to step down from the high horse heading in the abyss and pursue peace with Pakistan,” Bhutto added.