Pro-Jaish social sites circulate Masood’s elder brother’s death news

NEW DELHI: Pro-Jaish-e-Mohammed Telegram channels on Monday circulated news of the death of Maulana Masood Azhar’s elder brother, Hakim Mohammad Tahir Anwar. The cause of death is not known.

A funeral message said that the prayers will be held at 11 pm at Jamia Usman-o-Ali in Bahawalpur.Sources said Anwar was one of the five brothers of Masood. If confirmed, the development is expected to leave a void in Jaish’s leadership. Within the terror outfit, two of Azhar’s elder brothers held key roles: Ibrahim Azhar managed operations in Afghanistan, while Tahir Anwar led armed cadres of Jaish.Later, Anwar was made the head of JeM’s Markaz Usman-o-Ali. The Markaz was used to temporarily house Masood Operation Sindoor last year. The funeral prayer message, which seemed to be from Azhar, read: “...My dear elder brother... Hakeem Muhammad Tahir Anwar... has passed away...”