Pulwama Terror Attack: Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e-Mohammed Readies Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah Near Pakistan’s Bahawalpur as New Centre, Say Reports

According to leading web portal, images show the mosque located close to the National Highway-5 on the outskirts of Bahawalpur. The Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah is a grand structure sprawling across 16 acres. The mosque's construction was a basic one way back in 2012 but turned into a huge structure in recent years.  

New Delhi: Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) that claimed the responsibility for deadly Pulwama attack is reportedly busy readying Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah near Pakistan’s Bahawalpur as its new centre. The terror outfit is reportedly running its operations out of this region currently. At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus.

As per intelligence sources, JeM intends to use Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah as its new location. It has also been confirmed that this location was raided by Pakistan authorities in the wake of Pathankot terror attack in 2016.

It is being said that there are several reasons for the JeM to have chosen Bahawalpur as its new location. Firstly, it is the birthplace of its chief Masood Azhar. Secondly, Bahawalpur is the 12th largest city in the Punjab province of Pakistan and is located 400 km from Lahore. The mosque is close to NH-5, which is well connected to the north and south regions of the country and is also the longest highway in Pakistan.

On 31 January 2000, Azhar had announced the formation of a new Deobandi terror group, Jaish-e-Mohammad. It comprises of members from other waning Deobandi militant groups such as Harkat-ul-Ansar, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami etc. It retains close ties to the Deobandi Afghan Taliban as well as Deobandi terrorist groups murdering Shia, Ahmadis, Barelvis and non-Muslim minorities such as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.