For the first time in four months, terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has admitted that family members of its chief Masood Azhar were killed during India’s Operation Sindoor carried out in May this year.

A 43-second video of senior JeM commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri has gone viral on social media, in which he openly acknowledges the losses suffered at JeM’s Bahawalpur camp. Kashmiri said Azhar’s family was “torn into pieces” on May 7, when Indian forces struck the group’s headquarters.

“…sab kuch kurban karne ke baad May 7 ko Bahawalpur je andar Maulana Masood Azhar ki family ke log – behne, aur bete, aur bachhe – reza reza ho gye, tukde tukde ho gaye (After sacrificing everything, on May 7 in Bahawalpur, Maulana Masood Azhar’s family members – sisters, sons, and children – were torn into pieces),” Kashmiri admitted in the video.

The admission confirms that Azhar’s elder sister and brother-in-law were among those killed in the Indian operation, along with at least four close aides of the JeM chief.

On the intervening night of May 7, the Indian Armed Forces carried out precision strikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Among the key targets was JeM’s Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, which was hit by the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The following day, satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies confirmed extensive damage to the JeM sites. Before-and-after images showed the destruction caused by the Indian missile strikes on the Jamia Mosque compound in Bahawalpur.