Heena Sharma Blog

Yusuf Azhar , who headed the Balakot-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp destroyed by Indian fighter jets in a pre-dawn strike Tuesday, is wanted by the CBI in the IC-814 hijacking case with a pending Interpol red corner notice against him since 2000, officials said. The red corner notice was issued on the request of the CBI against seven accused in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu to Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on December 24, 1999 -- Yousuf Azhar, Ibrahim Athar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhter, Sayed Shakir and Abdul Rauf, they said. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, while briefing the media on the "intelligence-led operation" on the Pakistan-based terror group's biggest training camp in Balakot, said the facility was headed by Yousuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghouri. Brother-in-law of Jaish chief Masood Azhar, Yousuf Azhar with red corner notice number A-565/6-2000 and Rauf with notice number A-566/6-2000 are key conspira...

Hours after Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and bombed terrorist camps in Pakistan, India’s foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale, said this was an “absolutely necessary” attack on the proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist group, which was readying for a major terrorist strike in India. “ In an intelligence led operation in the early hours of the day, India struck the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot . In this operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated,” Gokhale said. Stressing the value of this target, Gokhale stated: “This facility at Balakot was headed by MAULANA YOUSUF AZHAR (alias USTAD GHOURI), the brother-in-law of MASOOD AZHAR, Chief of JeM (capitals in original).” Qualifying those claims of success, the statement also said: “As the strike has taken place only a short while ago, we are awaiting further detail...

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday lauded the pilots of the Indian Air Force after air strikes on Pakistan. "I salute the pilots of the IAF," he tweeted. Gandhi also put out the Indian flag along with his tweet. The Congress also tweeted, lauding the role of the Indian Air Force in keeping Indians safe with its consistent and determined effort. "We salute the @IAF_MCC for their consistent & determined effort to keep Indians safe. Jai Hind," the Congress said on its official Twitter handle. Article Source -> Business Standard