Pulwama Terror Attack: Know about Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Maulana Masood Azhar

Pakistan-based banned terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammed, claimed responsibility of the horrific terror attack on the Jammu-Srinagar highway that killed 42 CRPF personnel and injured several others. The Maulana Masood Azhar-led JeM released a video of suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar soon after the attack.

Maulana Masood Azhar
Masood Azhar is the founder and leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, active mainly in Pakistan administered Kashmir. He features on India's most wanted list of 20 people it accuses of terrorism. Maulana Masood Azhar supports Muslim separatists fighting in Kashmir.

Early Life and Education
Maulana Masood Azhar was born in 1968 in Bahawalpur, in the central Pakistani province of Punjab. He got his early education from Jamia Uloom-i-Islami, near Karachi, which is considered as one of the leading religious universities of Pakistan.

Jaish-e-Mohammad

• Maulana Azhar heads Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is allegedly involved in numerous attacks in India that even include the attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001.
• It has been designated a "terrorist" organisation by India, the UK, US and UN and has been banned in Pakistan since 2002.
• India has also demanded his extradition from Pakistan but Islamabad has refused, citing a lack of proof.

Involvement in terrorist activities

• India arrested Azhar in 1994 and accused him of being a member of the Harkat-ul Mujahideen, one of the leading militant groups in Kashmir.
• In 1995 a group, which kidnapped six Western tourists, also called for his release. One of the hostages, a Norwegian was killed, one escaped and the remaining are missing but feared dead. The tourists were trekking in Kashmir's Pahalgam district when they were captured.
• In 1999 he was freed from an Indian prison in exchange for passengers on a hijacked Indian Airlines jet. His brother, Ibrahim, is thought to have been one of the hijackers.
• Maulana Azhar was detained for a year by authorities in Pakistan in connection with that attack, but never formally charged. Maulana Azhar was detained for a year by authorities in Pakistan in connection with that attack, but never formally charged.
• The JeM also claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001 that killed nine people.
• The Lahore High Court ordered an end to his house arrest on 14 December 2002.
• Following the January 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl by Sheikh Ahmed Saeed Omar, a close aide of Azhar, the US had sought the custody of the Jaish chief, saying authorities wanted to file charges against him for his involvement in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight, which had an American citizen on board.