Five top terrorists from banned groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)* and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)** have been left dead in Indian cross-border precision strikes at nine locations in Pakistan on 7 May, government sources have confirmed to Sputnik India.
These terror commanders include Mudassar Khadian Khas alias Abu Jundal, who was in-charge of the Markaz Taiba in Muridke (Punjab). Sources pointed out that Khan received guard of honour at his funeral by the Pakistani Army and his funeral was led by a designated global terrorist Hafiz Abdul Rauf, affiliated with another hardline group Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).
The attendance of uniformed personnel as well as Rauf at Khan's funeral has been taken note of in India, which has claimed that the 7 May precision strikes left over 100 terrorists dead. The identities of more terrorists killed in these strikes is being ascertained by Indian agencies.
"Giving terrorists state funerals may be a practice in Pakistan. It doesn't seem to make much sense to us," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a briefing on Operation Sindoor, a codename for India's response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack on 22 April.
Pakistan has denied New Delhi's claims.
The nine locations targeted by India during the 7 May strikes are Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sarjal, and Mehmoona Joya, all located in Pakistan. And five sites having terrorist infrastructure have been targeted in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (Pakistan-administered Kashmir)- Barnala camp (Bhimber), Abbas Camp (Kotli), Gulpur camp (Kotli), Shawai Nalla and Syedna Bilal camps (Muzaffarabad).
Another LeT commander killed during the 7 May strikes is Khalid alias Abu Akasha, who sources said had been involved in multiple terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources added that Khalid was involved in weapons smuggling from Afghanistan. His funeral was held in Faisalabad and attended by senior Pakistani Army officials, Indian sources said.
At least three terrorists from Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which has been behind major terrorist attacks in India, have also been eliminated during the 7 May strikes. These include Hafiz Muhammad Jameel, the eldest brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar.
Jameel was in charge of Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur (Punjab), where Indian strikes targeted the operational headquarters of JeM. Sources said that Jameel was actively involved in the "radical indoctrination" of youth and fundraising for the banner terrorist group.
Mohammad Yusuf Azhar, the brother-in-law of Azhar and wanted in the IC-814 hijacking case, has also been taken out in the 7 May strike, sources said.
Yusuf handled weapons training for JeM and was also involved in multiple terrorist attacks in Jammu & Kashmir, they said.
Lastly, sources have confirmed that another top JeM commander Mohammad Hassan Khan has also been killed in the Indian strikes in Bahawalpur.
Khan played a key role in coordinating terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and was also the son of JeM's operational commander Mufti Asghar Khan Kashmiri, sources said.
Earlier, sources pointed out that another designated terrorist, Abdul Rauf Asghar from JeM, who was a key conspirator in IC-814 flight hijacking incident in 1999 as well as the beheading of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, had also been killed in Indian strikes.
*banned terrorist group
**banned terrorist group