‘Thousands of suicide bombers’ ready to strike: JeM chief Masood Azhar’s audio surfaces online, says recruits seek ‘martyrdom’
An audio clip purportedly featuring Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has surfaced on social media, in which he claims the terror outfit has "thousands of suicide bombers" ready to strike. While the authenticity of the clip is yet to be verified, experts have dismissed the claims as hollow threats, calling them an attempt to revive the outfit's image after recent setbacks.
New Delhi: A new audio clip purportedly featuring Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar has surfaced on social media, triggering tensions across the country. In the voice note, Azhar claims that the terror outfit has "thousands of suicide bombers ready to strike at any moment.” The authenticity and date of the audio clip are yet to be ascertained.
In the clip, Azhar says the scale of the outfit has reached a level that would cause "shock in the international media” if revealed. The JeM chief claims that his recruits do not seek financial or personal gains but aspire only for "shahadat”, or martyrdom.
'A reaction to losses in Op Sindoor'
The audio clip has emerged days after a video of Pahalgam attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) deputy chief Saifullah Kasuri surfaced, in which he was heard claiming that Islamabad had invited him to lead the funeral of soldiers killed in Operation Sindoor. Both clips were circulated on Telegram and X by pro-ISI accounts.
Experts say these messages are a reaction to the losses Pakistan suffered during Operation Sindoor. According to a Times of India report, the LeT deputy chief was captured delivering the speech at a school, with hundreds of children present in the audience.
Just a 'hollow threat'
Defence experts have described the warnings as "hollow threats”, calling them an attempt by the terror outfits to mask their frustration following setbacks in Operation Sindoor. They added that strikes on Pakistan reportedly killed at least 10 of Azhar’s associates and relatives in Bahawalpur.
JeM commanders, according to reports, have said the clips are a calculated effort to refurbish the outfit’s image, which has been "torn to pieces”. Since the 2019 blast in Bahawalpur, Azhar has not been traced, fuelling speculation over his health and whereabouts.