Masood Azhar Used Balakot As Base, Orchestrated Parliament, 26/11 Attacks: Top JeM Aide

Last Updated:September 17, 2025, 15:59 IST

Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a senior commander of the terror group, made the admission in a recently surfaced video

Masood Azhar allegedly planned and directed deadly attacks in India, including 2001 Parliament and 26/11 Mumbai attacks, from Pakistani soil. (Reuters file photo)

In a major revelation that could further isolate Pakistan on the global stage, a senior commander of the banned terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has admitted that its chief, Masood Azhar, planned and directed deadly attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament assault and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, from Pakistani soil.

Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a top figure within JeM, made the admission in a recently surfaced video. In the footage, Kashmiri openly states that after being released from India’s Tihar Jail, Azhar returned to Pakistan, where he found refuge in Balakot. From there, he continued to lead the group’s terror operations against India, India Today reported.

“After escaping the prison of Tihar Jail in Delhi, Amir-ul-Mujahideen Maulana Masood Azhar comes to Pakistan. The soil of Balakot provides him a base to carry forward his vision, mission, and programme Delhi and Mumbai," Kashmiri can he heard saying in the video.

He refers to Azhar as “Amir-ul-Mujahideen," a title often used for terror leaders, and credits Balakot as a key location for JeM’s strategy and planning.

The video also shows Kashmiri glorifying Osama bin Laden, calling him a martyr and a source of ideological inspiration for Azhar and JeM.

The remarks lend weight to long-standing Indian claims that Pakistan has provided shelter and operational freedom to terrorist groups like JeM.

Masood Azhar, one of India’s most wanted terrorists, was freed in 1999 during the Indian Airlines IC-814 hijacking, after being held in Indian custody for five years. Since then, he has been linked to numerous attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, and the 2016 Pathankot airbase strike.

India had targeted a JeM facility in Balakot during the 2019 airstrikes following the Pulwama attack. At the time, Pakistan denied the presence of any terror camps in the region. However, Kashmiri’s confession directly challenges Pakistan’s repeated assertions that no terrorist infrastructure exists on its territory.

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