Abdul Rauf Azhar Alvi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974 (1974) |
| Allegiance | Jaish-e-Mohammed Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami[1] |
| Rank | Supreme Commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed |
| Battles / wars | |
| Relations | Masood Azhar (brother) |
Abdul Rauf Azhar Alvi (born 1974) is a Pakistani militant, thesupreme commander of thejihadistIslamist militant groupJaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and one of the brothers of JeM founderMasood Azhar. He took command of JeM on 21 April 2007, and is listed on theNIA Most Wanted.[2][3][4][5][6]
He has beencharged in multipleterrorist attacks in India including the1995 kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir,2016 Pathankot attack,2016 Uri attack and the2019 Pulwama attack.[7][6][8]
He was born inBahawalpur,Punjab, Pakistan in 1974 in aSaraiki family.[9] He is one of 11 children, 4 brothers and 7 sisters, and is the younger brother of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar.[10][11] His father, Allah Bakhsh Shabbir, was theheadmaster at a government-run school as well as a cleric withDeobandi leanings, and his family operated a dairy and poultry farm.[12][13] He studied at theJamia Uloom-ul-Islamia and is himself is known by the title ofmufti.[7] He took part in theAfghan Civil War (1992–1996) and later theTaliban insurgency during theWar in Afghanistan (2001–2021). He became involved in theinsurgency in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s. He had close ties toKhalid Sheikh Mohammed (the mastermind of the9/11 attacks) andAafia Siddiqui.
He planned thehijacking ofIndian Airlines Flight 814 with the support ofInter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's main intelligence agency and theTaliban to secure the release of 36Islamist jihadists held in prison in India – fellowHarkat-ul-Mujahideen members, especially his older brother Masood Azhar and including jihadists likeAhmed Omar Saeed andMushtaq Ahmed Zargar. The hostage crisis lasted for seven days and ended after India agreed to release three jihadists out of 36.[citation needed]
In 2000, the jihadists formed a new organisation namedJaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and have since been implicated in other militant actions, such as the2001 Indian Parliament attack, 2002 kidnapping and murder ofDaniel Pearl,2008 Mumbai terror attacks,2016 Pathankot attack and the2019 Pulwama attack. Rauf is a wanted person in India for his involvement in terror attacks.[14][1]
Abdul Rauf is known to have been one of the co-conspirators in the kidnapping and subsequent murder ofDaniel Pearl, an American journalist associated withThe Wall Street Journal.[15][16][17][18]
Azhar tookcommand ofJaish-e-Mohammed on 21 April 2007, when his older brother, Masood Azhar its leader, went underground with the support of the ISI intelligence agency of Pakistan.[2] According to US Treasury sanctions, he serves as the senior military commander for India, is JeM's intelligence coordinator, has organised suicide attacks in India, runs JeM'sterrorist training camps, and is also a member of the group's political front.[19]
In 2009, theBBC News reported that Abdul Rauf Azhar was one of the leaders summoned toIslamabad to help the Pakistani government negotiate withhostage-takers who had seized 42 civilians in an attack on theGeneral Headquarters of the Pakistan Army.[3]
In 2010, theOffice of Foreign Assets Control of theUnited States Treasury designated Abdul Rauf Azhar as aSpecially Designated Global Terrorist under theSpecially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.[19][9]
He is on theNIA Most Wanted list of India'sNational Investigation Agency.[7]Interpol Red Notices have been issued against him on NIA's request seeking arrest for charges related to the2016 Pathankot attack.[8] India and the US moved theUnited Nations Security Council'sISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee to sanction Abdul Rauf Azhar, this was blocked by China which asked for a hold on the move without particularly specifying a reason.[20]
Rana Sanaullah,Minister of Law of Punjab, Pakistan, had said in 2016 that while JeM andLashkar-e-Taiba were banned inPakistan and that military actions underOperation Zarb-e-Azb to stop these militant organizations from operating against other countries had been taken, legal action against them was not possible, stating "When the state itself has been involved in a matter, how action can be taken on that basis against such banned organisations".[8]
After the2019 Pulwama attack, he and Masood Azhar's son Hammad Azhar were taken intocustody by thePakistan's Ministry of Interior.[21][11]
As JeM commander he has maintained strong ties with theTaliban,Al-Qaeda (includingKhalid Sheikh Mohammed),Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),Difa-e-Pakistan Council (an umbrella coalition of anti-NATO religious and nationalist organisations in Pakistan), and theInter-Services Intelligence-sponsoredUnited Jihad Council, an umbrella organisation of 13–16 separatistinsurgent organisations active inJammu and Kashmir.[22]
Rauf's brother, Masood Azhar, had made contacts in Britain who helped to provide training and logistical support for the terror plots, including "7/7,21/7 and the attempt in2006 to smuggle liquid bomb-making substances on to transatlantic airlines."[23]Rashid Rauf, who was implicated in the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, was married to their relative.[24]
Under Rauf and Masood's leadership, after Pakistan had joined thewar on terror, the JeM split into two groups due to the brother's loyalty to the Pakistani government. Three JeM commanders, Abdul Jabbar, Maulana Umar Farooq and Abdullah Shah Mazhar, left the group and formedJamaat ul-Furqan; led by Jabbar, the faction was joined by members of LeT,Lashkar-e-Jhangvi andHarkat-ul-Mujahideen.[25] The remaining group that stayed with Masood Azhar used the nameKhuddam ul-Islam.[26] TheInter-Services Intelligence demanded Masood to rein in the rival faction after they began attacking Pakistani officials and civilians.[27]
When the Musharraf government bannedKhuddam ul-Islam andJamaat-ul-Furqan, the groups carried out two assassination attempts on President Musharraf himself, on 14 and 25 December 2003.[28] Masood Azhar's group, which stayed loyal to the Pakistani but had fallen into relative obscurity by 2004, was allowed to rebuild itself after the problematic portions of the leadership were purged. Pakistan in turn protected his group despite the official bans and the group continued to grow inBahawalpur.[29] The rival factions eventually realigned themselves withTehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistani Taliban) in 2007.[30]
According to reports in the Indian media, Azhar was killed inBahawalpur, Pakistan on 7 May 2025 in an airstrike by theIndian Air Force, as a part ofOperation Sindoor.[31] Masood Azhar, who confirmed the death of 10 family members and 4 associates in a statement, did not list his brother's name among those killed.[32][33] Other reports listing key terrorists claimed to have been killed in the strikes do not include his name.[34]
The outlawed JeM is reportedly re-organising itself under its new commander Mufti Abdul Rauf, younger brother of the outfit's chief Maulana Masood Azhar
Special planes were subsequently dispatched to Lahore, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan to bring to Rawalpindi Malik Ishaq, a jailed leader of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Mufti Abdul Rauf, the younger brother of Maulana Masood Azhar who is the acting ameer of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, the chief of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, to hold talks with the hostage takers.Mirror.Archived 20 February 2014 at theWayback Machine.
US has slapped sanctions against three Pakistan-based key terrorists leaders, including Abdul Rauf Azhar the top commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed in India, who in 2008 was assigned to organise suicide attacks in the country.
According to theDaily Times—a leading Pakistani daily—Mufti Abdul Rauf has taken upon himself the task of spearheading the reorganisation of the militant body after Maulana Azhar went underground following two suicide attacks on President General Pervez Musharraf.
The outlawed JeM is reportedly re-organising itself under its new commander Mufti Abdul Rauf, younger brother of the outfit's chief Maulana Masood Azhar.
Azhar has been identified by the Treasury Department as 'a senior leader' of JeM who 'has urged Pakistanis to engage in militant activities.' In 2007, Azhar served as JeM's 'acting leader'.