In a video circulating on social media platform X, a Pakistani civilian appeared to confirm a madrasa linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar in Bahawalpur was one of the targets torched after India launched Operation Sindoor on early Wednesday morning. According to an official statement by the Indian government, a total of nine sites in Pakistan were struck as part of retaliatory measures following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed at least 26 people.

The account shared by the Pakistani national from Bahawalpur came to light around the time several Pakistani news outlets reported that the madrasa in focus had been destroyed in the Indian military strike. The Islamic educational institution is said to have been under scrutiny for allegedly harbouring terrorists and its purported ties with JeM.

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Jaish-e-Mohammad headquarter targetted in Operation Sindoor

Bahawalpur is the hometown of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar, a UN-designated global terrorist. According to a detailed roster of terrorist hotbed targetted in the early morning Operation Sindoor strikes, one of these torched locations was identified as Markaz Subhan Allah at NH-5 (Karachi – Torkham Highway) on the outskirts of Bahawalpur at Karachi Mor, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan.

Listed as the main centre of JeM for indoctrination of youth, the site spans over a 15-acres area. Residences of JeM Chief Maulana Masood Azhar, de-facto Chief of JeM Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, Maulana Ammar and other family members are also harboured by the Bahawalpur site. The official document, now available online, indicated that Markaz Subhan Allah was not only built on the foundation of funds raised by JeM from some Gulf and African countries, but also with the help of Pakistan’s provincial and federal government.

Other sites hit in precision strikes

“A little while ago, the Indian Armed forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed,” the Indian Army said on Wednesday morning. Adding that the actions were “focussed, measured and non-escalatory in nature,” the Army revealed, “No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution.”

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In addition to Masood Azhar’s madrasa being targetted, the counter-terrorism operation decimated facilities “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. Intelligence sources confirmed that these place served as bases for terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), with support from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).