New Delhi, April 30 (IANS) In yet another blow to Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is already facing immense losses, its top commander, Maulana Salman, died after being hit by an unidentified vehicle at Pakistan’s Bahawalpur on Wednesday.
Salman was a close aide of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Masood Azhar and was instrumental in numerous attacks that were carried out on Indian soil.
Some of the major attacks that he was involved in included the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack that targeted personnel of the CRPF.
His funeral was held at the Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur at 4 p.m. on Wednesday itself.
The funeral was attended by hundreds of people, including some officials of the ISI.
Salman was one of the many who were injured in the bombing at the Jaish’s Bahawalpur headquarters when the Indian armed forces carried out Operation Sindoor.
While Salman may have survived, many top leaders of the terror outfit and the closest family members of Masood Azhar were eliminated. This had led to Masood Azhar releasing an official statement mourning the death of his loved ones.
This is another incident in which top commanders or operatives of the Jaish and Lashkar-e-Taiba have been killed under mysterious circumstances.
Just two days before Salman’s death, Sheikh Yusuf Afridi, a top cadre of the Lashkar, was assassinated by unidentified persons at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). He was a top commander and handled the Lashkar’s operations in KP.
Last year, the Jaish lost its key strategist, Maulana Abdul Aziz Azar, under mysterious circumstances. Although the official version stated that he died of a heart attack, there is still a mystery surrounding his death.
On April 16 this year, Maualana Amir Hamza, one of the founding members of the Lashkar, was shot at by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan. He was targeted when he was inside his vehicle. Following the shooting, he was rushed to the hospital and reports state that he survived the attack.
In March last year, Abu Natal, a top terrorist of the Lashkar, was also shot at by unidentified gunmen in the Jhelum district of Pakistan’s Punjab.
An official said that this spate of mysterious deaths has dealt a severe blow to both the Jaish and the Lashkar. Both have been in revival mode since Operation Sindoor, and these deaths have only been a spoke in the wheel for them.
In both outfits, there is a leadership crisis, with many questioning the top rung. There is confirmed news that Masood Azhar’s health is in a very poor condition.
Under the guidance of the ISI, the Jaish has been looking to put up a new leadership with very few people at the helm. Moreover, there is also an unofficial ban on the Pakistani media from reporting anything relating to Azhar. The case with the Lashkar is similar. Many are questioning its boss, Hafiz Saeed, and there is a growing clamour for new leadership, preferably a younger one.
–IANS
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