- By Ajeet Kumar
- Fri, 04 Jul 2025 11:14 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Where is Masood Azhar? Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has again made contentious remarks by declaring, "the Pakistani government does not know the current location of UN-designated terrorist and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar" and putting the blame on neighbouring Afghanistan. This comes even as Indian authorities continue to press for the extradition of key terror suspects tied to cross-border attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, Bhutto said, "We have not been able to locate or arrest him. Given his history with the Afghan jihad, we believe he may be in Afghanistan. If the Indian government provides credible evidence that he is on Pakistani soil, we would be more than willing to arrest him."
Expect India to provide that information? Bhutto responds
Challenging his statement, the interviewer asked, "You are saying that a UN-designated terrorist is unaccounted for, and you expect India to provide that information?” Bhutto responded, "With counter-terrorism cooperation, it’s standard for both sides to exchange lists of individuals of concern. That’s how we’ve worked together in the past to prevent attacks in London, New York, and even Pakistan.”
Regarding Afghanistan, Bhutto argued, “If Masood Azhar is indeed in Afghanistan — a country now governed by a group once labelled terrorists by the West — it’s unrealistic to expect Pakistan to succeed where NATO failed. Pakistan has no interest in allowing any such individual to remain active.”
Bhutto claims Hafeez Saeed in Pakistan custody
The conversation also touched on Hafeez Saeed, the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, who was described as being free according to a New York Times report from May 2025. Bhutto disputed that claim, saying, “That’s factually incorrect. Hafeez Saeed is in the custody of the Pakistani state.”
Bhutto was part of a Pakistani diplomatic delegation that visited various countries to explain Islamabad’s position following India’s military strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. These strikes were conducted in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir.
One of the airstrikes targeted Bahawalpur, where locals gathered on May 7 to mourn the deaths of several members of Masood Azhar’s family. Reports claim that Azhar was present at the burial of his older sister, her husband, his nephew and niece, and five children from the family.
Who are Mumbai terror attack masterminds?
India has since renewed its call for the extradition of top terror operatives. Despite being named as masterminds behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leaders, including Hafeez Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and Sajid Mir, remain free.
Masood Azhar has a long history linked to terrorism. He was released from Indian custody in December 1999 as part of a hostage exchange after the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814. The hijackers demanded his release in return for the safety of 176 passengers. Azhar was handed over in Kandahar, Afghanistan, then under Taliban control.
Less than two years later, his group was implicated in the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, a major terror assault at the core of India's democratic institutions.
