Know all about JeM Chief Maulana Masood Azhar; mastermind of Pulwama, Parliament terror attacks

Masood Azhar is the founder and leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Maulana Azhar heads Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is allegedly involved in carrying out numerous terror attacks in India that even include the attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001.

Maulana Masood Azhar (Source: AFP)

New Delhi: The dastardly terror attack which claimed the lives of 39 CRPF bravehearts in Pulwama on Thursday was planned and executed by Pakistan-based banned terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammed. JeM claimed responsibility of the cowardly terror attack on the Jammu-Srinagar highway that inflicted heavy casualties. The Maulana Masood Azhar-led JeM released a video of suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar soon after the attack. It is not for the first time that a major terror attack orchestrated by Maulana Masood Azhar has bled the Indian nation and its bravehearts. The JeM Supremo has been known to masterminding some of the deadliest terror attacks against India. Know all about Maulana Masood Azhar Masood Azhar is the founder and leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Maulana Azhar heads Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is allegedly involved in carrying out numerous terror attacks in India that even include the attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001. Azhar is generally based out of Pakistan and China and undertakes his operations from Pakistan administered Kashmir. He features on India's most wanted list of 20 people it alleges of carrying out terrorism. Maulana Masood Azhar has been seen holding rallies in Pakistan to support the cause of Kashmir's liberation movement against India and championing the cause of separatists in Kashmir. India has also demanded his extradition from Pakistan but Islamabad has refused, citing a lack of proof. The Chinese government blocked a UN Security Council Sanctions Committee designatinngAzhar as a terrorist, therby blocking international efforts to disrupt the activities of his group Early Life and Education Maulana Masood Azhar was born in 1968 in Bahawalpur, in the central Pakistani province of Punjab. He got his early education from Jamia Uloom-i-Islami, near Karachi, which is considered as one of the leading religious universities of Pakistan. Maulana Masood Azhar's involvement in terrorist activities Azhar was arrested by India in 1994 and accused of being a member of the Harkat-ul Mujahideen, one of the leading militant groups in Kashmir. In 1995 a group, which kidnapped six Western tourists, called for his release. One of the hostages, a Norwegian was killed, one escaped and the remaining are missing but feared dead. The tourists were trekking in Kashmir's Pahalgam district when they were captured. In 1999, Azhar was released from an Indian prison in exchange for passengers on a hijacked Indian Airlines jet. His brother, Ibrahim, is thought to have been one of the hijackers. Maulana Azhar was detained for a year by authorities in Pakistan in connection with that attack, but never formally charged. Maulana Azhar was detained for a year by authorities in Pakistan in connection with that attack, but never formally charged. The JeM claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001 that killed nine people. The Lahore High Court ordered an end to his house arrest on 14 December 2002. Following the January 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl by Sheikh Ahmed Saeed Omar, a close aide of Azhar, the US had sought the custody of the Jaish chief, saying authorities wanted to file charges against him for his involvement in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight, which had an American citizen on board.