Maulana Masood Azhar

Amir, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)

 Profile

Name Maulana Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi

Alias Maulana Masood Azhar
Father's Name Maulana Allah Baksh Sabir
Mother's Name Rukaya Bibi
Spouse's Name Shazia
Children Name Abdullah (Son)
Waliullah (Son)
& 02 daughters
Qualification Azhar passed 6th class from Govt. Middle School,
Shadara, Bahawalpur and for further studies, joined
the School at Rahim Yar Khan. He left his studies in 8th
class.
In 1978, Azhar joined Jamia Uloom Islamia Religious
Institution, Binori Town, Karachi. After studying there
for 9 years, he obtained ‘Almia’ Degree in 1989.
Date of Birth 10 July 1968
/Age
Address 1260/108, Block No.6, Kausar Colony, Model Town-B,
Bahawalpur, Pakistan /
Markaz Usman-o-Ali, Bahawalpur / Kausar Colony
near Railway Road, Industrial area, Bahawalpur,
Punjab, Pakistan
Rank Chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)/ Sarparast-e-Aala/
Central Ameer JeM
Other family He has 5 brothers and 6 sisters.
Brothers:
details
Mohammed Tahir Anwar (Elder brother)
Mohammed Ibrahim Azhar (Elder brother)
Mufti Abdur Rauf Azhar (Younger brother)
Mohd Ammar (Younger brother)
Talha Saif (Younger brother)

Sisters
 Zahara Bibi, Abda Bibi, Rabiya Bibi, Sadeya Bibi,
Safeya Bibi, Somayra Bibi

Red Corner Notice A-1086/7-2004 and A-4367/5-2016

Sanctions The UN added JeM to the AQ Sanctions list in Oct.

2001 and the US designated JeM as Foreign Terrorist
Organization in Dec. 2001. Maulana Masood Azhar
was designated by the US as Specially Designated
Global Terrorist in April 2010.

Background

 Mohamad Masood Azhar Alvi @ Maulana Masood Azhar, is the founder and
chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed, which was formed with the support of Al Qaeda
(AQ) and Mullah Omar. He has actively supported and has closely worked
with the AQ and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and other affiliates of AQ.

 Maulana Masood Azhar studied at the famous jihadi seminary in Karachi,

Jamia Uloom al Islamia or the Jamia Binoria, which has been one of the main
nerve centers of support for the Afghan jihad since early 1970s.

 After completing his education at Jamia Binoria, Maulana Masood Azhar

became a teacher there and joined Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil-led HuM,
which was at the forefront of jihad in Afghanistan. Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Khalil was very close to Osama Bin Laden (deceased) and Mullah Omar.
Maulana Masood Azhar took combat training in AQ camps in Afghanistan and
also participated in jihad there.

 However, HuM leaders, impressed by Maulana Masood Azhar’s leadership

quality, oratorical skills and ardent support of jihad, appointed him the editor of
HuM’s jihadi magazine, the Sada-e-Mujahid.

 Due to Maulana Masood Azhar’s proximity to Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil

and Osama Bin Laden (deceased), he was sent to different places in the
world, including to Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Zambia, the UAE, Bangladesh and
the UK between 1990 and 1993 for delivering speeches in support of jihad and
collecting donations for jihad in Kashmir, Afghanistan and Somalia. He
 managed to collect large amount of funds and created his own funding
networks beyond Pakistan. In his speeches inciting people for jihad, Maulana
Masood Azhar has referred to his own participation in the global jihad in
Somalia.

 Following the withdrawal of Russian forces from Afghanistan in 1989, Maulana

Masood Azhar had become the Secretary General of HuM and a known face
amongst top jihadi circles of the region.

 In 1994, he was sent to India through Bangladesh on a fake Portuguese

Passport in the name of Vali Adam Issa. He went to J&K to lead the Harakat-
ul-Ansar (HuA), a group formed by the merger of HuM and HuJI in J&K and in
Pakistan.

 In Feb. 1994, Maulana Masood Azhar was arrested by Indian Security forces
and jailed by Courts for his acts of jihad in India. He continued to be in jail till
Dec.1999, and in between, was also charged for an attempt of jail break at Kot
Bhalwal Jail in Jammu, where he was lodged.

 Brother of Masood Azhar, Abdul Rauf Alvi and Ibrahim Athar Alvi and brother-
in-law, Yusuf Azhar along with other Pakistan nationals, mustered support and
planned and executed the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane, IC-814 on Dec.
24, 1999, from Kathmandu, Nepal.

 The aircraft was eventually taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan. As demanded

by the hijackers, Maulana Masood Azhar, along with Omar Saeed Sheikh and
Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was freed in exchange for passengers of the hijacked
Indian Airlines flight, on Dec. 31, 1999.

 Within days of his release in Kandahar, Maulana Masood Azhar, resurfaced in

his hometown of Bahawalpur in Pakistan and subsequently floated a new
terrorist group, the JeM. Maulana Masood Azhar along with chief of Jamia
Binoria in Karachi, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai co-founded the JeM in Jamia
Binoria seminary in 2000.

 JeM claimed its first attack (a suicide attack) in an Army cantonment in J&K in
Dec. 2000 and then mounted another attack in the J&K Legislative Assembly
in Oct. 2001. JeM subsequently attacked Indian Parliament in New Delhi on
Dec. 13, 2001. In this case, a Court warrant as well as an RCN is pending
 against Maulana Masood Azhar and he has been charge sheeted in the case.
After 9/11 attacks in the US, with Gen Pervez Musharraf becoming an ally of
the US in ‘war against terror’, JeM cadres, along with AQ cadres, were found
involved (Dec. 2003) in two unsuccessful attacks on Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

 JeM was designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations (Oct

2001), India (October 25, 2001), the USA (Oct 2001), the UK (Oct 2001),
Russia and Canada (Nov 27, 2002). Later, Australia (Aug 11, 2015) and the
UAE (Nov 16, 2014) also proscribed JeM.

 In 2002, under international pressure, Pakistan Government outlawed JeM,

which subsequently morphed into two factions; the Jamat-ul-Furqan and the
Khuddam-ul-lslam and continued its activities. Both of these groups were
banned in late 2003. Though Maulana Masood Azhar lay low for some time,
he started churning out jihadi propaganda in support of the AQ, the Afghan
Taliban and terrorist groups fighting in Jammu & Kashmir.

 Maulana Masood Azhar has, since then, published newspapers as well as

online Urdu and English magazines, including Al Qalam, where he continues
to propagate Jihadi ideology under the pen name of Sadi.

 Maulana Masood Azhar has presided over creation and running of JeM’s
training centers mainly in Punjab, and some in the tribal areas of Pakistan,
where Afghan Taliban cadres, cadres of other Pakistan based groups such as
of Tehreek-e-Ghalba-e-Islam (TGI), SSP/LeJ too receive training.

 Following the hanging (Feb.9, 2013) of Mohammad Afzal Guru, an Indian

national convicted for the attack (Dec. 13, 2001) on Indian Parliament in New
Delhi that Maulana Masood Azhar had master-minded, he issued threats to
India in public rallies organized by JeM across Pakistan and Pak Occupied
Kashmir.

 Since then, JeM terrorists have mounted two major attacks on the Indian
interests, one on the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan (Jan 3,
2016) and other on the Indian Airforce Base in Pathankot in India (Jan 2-4,
2016). Since then JeM has carried out a number of attacks, the recent being
VBIED attack on CRPF convoy in Lethpora, Pulwama on Feb 14, 2019.
 Terror Activities of
Maulana Masood Azhar
Recent Activities and involvement in terrorist attacks

 Masood Azhar has intensified his terrorist operations against the Indian
Government, security forces and civilians, predominantly in J&K. He has also
broadened JeM’s operational focus by joining the Afghan Taliban in attacks
against government and coalition forces in Afghanistan.

 JeM has undertaken a recruitment drive through its students and charity
fronts. Talba Al-Murabitoon (Students Movement for Ideological &
Geographical Defence of Islam & Pakistan), along with other wings such as Al
Rehmat Trust and Preaching Wing, regularly organizes events in close
coordination in order to urge people to wage Jehad according to Sunnat &
Shariah and support their action against India.

 JeM, under the patronage of Maulana Masood Azhar also organizes events
under the banner of Bazm-e-Yousafi, Majlis Wursa-e-Shoda Jammu-Wa-
Kashmir, Majlis Dawat-Al-Quran and conferences in the name of killed
terrorists to collect funds and radicalize & motivate youth to join their various
conferences/ congregations/ programmes organized by JeM for further
radicalizing and to collect donations. Posters and pamphlets issued on these
occasions mention MMA as chief patron.

 In recent years, there has been a significant increase in enrolments in basic

induction courses, religious programmes and jihadi training courses organized
by JeM at their Markaz/centres in Pakistan including various religious/ Jehadi
courses at Markaz Usman-o- Ali, Bahawalpur (Punjab).

 On the instructions of Maulana Masood Azhar, JeM has been organising

various fund collection campaigns under ‘Al Rahmat Trust’ to serve Jehad,
Mujahideens, prisoners and for construction of Markaz, Mosques and
Madarassas. However, its sole purpose is financial support for Jihad in
Kashmir and Afghanistan.
 JeM’s fund collection campaigns include “Jehad Fund” (for terrorists and
funding their expenses including clothing, arms and ammunitions); “Infaq Fi
Sabil Allah Muhim” (to collect funds for Jihad in Kashmir); and ‘Nusrat Fund’
(donation of Pakistan Currency Rs. 50/-). The amount collected under Nusrat
Fund is under the discretion of MMA for further allotment.

 Maulana Masood Azhar decides on deployment of terrorists along with his

brother and Operational Commander of JeM, Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar. On
their direction and supervision, ‘high value operatives’, particularly trained
terrorists belonging to their family are infiltrated into J&K to conduct
spectacular terror attacks.

 The killings of such high value targets by Indian Security Forces are then
projected as “Shahadat” and leveraged for aggressive recruitment and fund
collection activities in Pakistan and PoJK. Pamphlets, books dedicated to
killed terrorists, photos, posts over social media, speeches of JeM
functionaries and audio messages are released to further intensify recruitment
and to radicalize for terror operations.

 Maulana Masood Azhar attended a three-day special session of JeM district

Amirs held (October 13-15, 2017) at Markaz Usman-o-Ali, Bahawalpur. During
his speech (Oct 15, 2017), he motivated people to participate in Jehad with full
strength in accordance with ‘Jehad’ described in Islamic teachings. He further
stated that earlier there were voices in favour of curbing ‘Jehad’ but JeM
Mujahideen are destroying camps of ISF. Maulana Masood Azhar also
releases a number of audio messages on Jehad, eulogizing Jihadists, praising
Mujahideens fighting in Afghanistan and Kashmir, showcasing terrorist attacks
by JeM and inciting youth for jihad.

 Maulana Masood Azhar is also head of the swimming course projected by

JeM as 'Samundari Jehad', which has been started at JeM’s Markaz
Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, Punjab during mid-2018. This training has also
been incorporated in JeM’s curriculum of advanced training towards its
preparation to gain maritime capability in the medium to long run, to undertake
sea/river-based operations.

Action by Pak-authorities:

 Masood Azhar was arrested by Pakistani security forces on December 29,

2001, after pressure from India and other foreign countries following the
 December 13, 2001 attack on India’s parliament. However, a three-member
Review Board of Lahore High Court ordered on December 14, 2002, that
Azhar be released. He was once again placed under house arrest in
Bahawalpur in December 2008 following Mumbai attacks but was never
charged and later the Pakistani authorities even denied about taking him into
custody.

 He was put under house arrest at Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, post
‘Balakot Attack’ (26.02.2019) and has been recently shifted to a Safe House in
Islamabad.
 Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)

 JeM has always been heavily based on familial ties, with little change in key
leadership figures and roles with Maulana Masood Azhar as the strategic
leader since its creation. However, as international and internal pressure grew
on JeM in the early 2000s (due to attack on the Indian Parliament and multiple
assassination attempts against President Musharraf), Masood Azhar became
the focus of media and legal spotlight. Consequently, Azhar's younger brother
Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar assumed a greater role in running JeM.

 Masood Azhar with his elevation in the terrorist’s hierarchy, inducted his
brothers and family members including brothers-in-law in JeM to have full
control over the functioning and finances of the group. Ibrahim Athar @
Ibrahim Azhar, brother of Masood Azhar was among the mastermind/ hijacker
of IC814 that lead to the release of Masood Azhar in exchange for
passengers, while Maulana Yusuf Azhar, brother-in-law and Abdul Rauf
Asghar, younger brother of Masood Azhar planned the whole conspiracy.

 Masood Azhar's brother, Abdul Rauf Asghar, has also become the de-facto
leader of JeM, as well as its head of Operations, since 2007. He is a senior
leader of JeM and also its intelligence coordinator. Abdul Rauf Asghar is
mastermind of a number of terrorist attacks by JeM in India and Afghanistan.

 Summarisation of activities and organisational structure of JeM leads to the

conclusion that it is fully controlled by family members of Masood Azhar as
senior functionaries. The second generation of Masood’s family also joined the
rank and file of JeM in its operational and administrative hierarchy which
include its massive properties in Pakistan and PoJK comprising of Markaz and
madrassa, training infrastructure and financial corps, collected through its
charity front Al Rahmat Trust (ART).
 Brothers and brothers-in-law of Maulana Masood Azhar (MMA):

(i) Muhammad Tahir (elder brother of MMA), Senior functionary;

(ii) Ibrahim Azhar (elder brother of MMA), Operational Commander/
Supervising Afghanistan Operations;
(iii) Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar (younger brother of MMA), De-facto Amir
(Head) of JeM/ Operational Head;
(iv) Talha Saif (younger brother of MMA), Chief Editor/ Publication Wing /
Head of Al Murabitoon (Student Wing of JeM);
(v) Mohammad Ammar (younger brother of MMA), Supervising Al-Qalam
Weekly Publication;
(vi) Maulana Yousuf Azhar (brother-in-law of MMA), Amir, Markaz Syed
Ahmad Shaheed, Balakot, Mansehra;
(vii) Abdul Rasheed (brother-in-law of MMA), Incharge Administration and
Training, Markaz Usman o Ali, Bahawalpur;
(viii) Mohammad Annas @ Allah Ditta (brother-in-law of MMA), Incharge
Store at Markaz Usman-o-Ali, Bahawalpur;
(ix) Mansoor Ahmed (brother-in-law of MMA), Incharge Defence Wing,
Markaz Usman-o-Ali, Bahawalpur;
(x) Hafiz Jameel (brother-in-law of MMA), Looking after overall affairs of
Markaz Subhan Allah, Bahwalpur.

 Second generation:

(i) Abdullah, S/o Maulana Masood Azhar, involved in operations in

Afghanistan & J&K;
(ii) Waliullah @ Wali, younger son of Maulana Masood Azhar, has been
undergoing Jihadi training;
(iii) Eldest son of Mohd. Tahir Anwar (brother of MMA), involved in JeM’s
Afghanistan operations;
(iv) Usman Haider @ Usman Ibrahim, S/o Ibrahim Azhar (brother of
MMA), killed in gun battle with ISF in Tral, J&K;
(v) Muhammad Umar, S/o Ibrahim Azhar (brother of MMA), killed in gun
battle with ISF in J&K;
(vi) Huzaifa, adopted S/o Ibrahim Azhar (brother of MMA), undertook
Jihadi training in Markaz Usman-o-Ali, Bahawalpur;
(vii) Talha Rasheed, S/o Abdul Rasheed (brother-in-law of MMA), killed
in gun battle with ISF in Pulwama, J&K;
(viii) Osama, S/o Yousuf Azhar (brother-in-law of MMA), looks after
miscellaneous affairs at Markaz Usman-o-Ali/ was earlier involved in
operations in Afghanistan;
(ix) Attaullah Kashif, S/o Hafiz Jameel (brother-in-law of MMA),
associated with JeM’s Markaz as preacher/ motivator.
 Top JeM Commander Neutralized in J&K in recent times

Talha Rasheed
Son of Abdul Rasheed, brother-in-law of Masood Azhar
Killed in November 2017

Mufti Abdul Mateen @ Waqas, JeM Commander, South Kashmir,

Killed in March 2018

Usman Ibrahim
S/o Ibrahim Azhar, elder brother of Maulana Masood Azhar
Killed in October 2018
Muhammad Umar
S/o Ibrahim Azhar, elder brother of Maulana Masood Azhar
Killed in March 2019