Bilawal Bhutto Says Pakistan Will Arrest Masood Azhar If India Provides Evidence
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stated that Islamabad has no knowledge of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar’s whereabouts and suggested that Azhar may be in Afghanistan due to his past involvement in the Afghan jihad.
Bhutto, whose party is part of Pakistan’s ruling coalition, said, “If and when the Indian government shares information with us that he is on Pakistani soil, we would be more than happy to arrest him.” He claimed that India has not provided credible evidence so far, and added, “It’s not possible for Pakistan to do what NATO couldn’t do in Afghanistan.”
Masood Azhar, one of India’s most-wanted terrorists, has been linked to several major attacks, including:
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The 2001 Indian Parliament attack
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The 2008 Mumbai attacks (26/11)
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The 2016 Pathankot airbase assault
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The 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing
He was designated a global terrorist by the UN in 2019, and was freed by India in 1999 during the Kandahar hijacking crisis.
Responding to a New York Times report that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed was roaming free, Bhutto insisted, “That’s factually not correct. Hafiz Saeed is in the custody of the Pakistani state.”
His remarks come in the aftermath of India’s Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists. As part of the operation, India targeted nine terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including JeM’s Bahawalpur base and LeT’s Muridke headquarters.
Following the strikes, Masood Azhar claimed that ten of his family members and four aides were killed.
