Muted Eid message signals leadership churn within Jaish-e-Mohammed
Indian agencies report that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar appears weak and ill in his latest Eid message. Internal bickering and leadership dilemmas suggest a potential change, while Lashkar-e-Taiba emerges more active in PoK amid JeM’s visible lull
New Delhi: The chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Masood Azhar, has always released a message for his supporters and cadres before Eid-ul-Fitr. This time, too, an audio clip has been released, but the Indian agencies noticed something drastically different. In his Eid message, Azhar sounded broken, and his normal fiery message against India, too, sounded very weak. Indian agencies tracking the Jaish-e-Mohammed say that all is not well within the outfit, and since Azhar appears to be very sick, many are seeking a leadership change.
Within the terror outfit, many feel that the current situation is not helping and it is stalling a lot of work. An official said that if one notices, it is the Lashkar-e-Taiba which seems to be more active this time.
The Lashkar leadership has been seen hobnobbing with members of Hamas. The Jaish-e-Mohammed, on the other hand, is visibly quiet and absent from major events. This suggests a tussle within the leadership of the Jaish. Many realise that it will not be easy to replace Azhar, and doing so will demoralise the cadre even further. However, others feel that if there is no proper command, then the outfit will begin to wither away.
Owing to the absence of a strong leader at the moment, the behaviour of the members of this outfit too has changed. There are launchpads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). However, it is the operatives of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who seem more active when compared to those part of the JeM, officials say.
At first, it was thought that the Jaish-e-Mohammed was putting up an act to make it look as though Azhar was sick and broken. This was being done to protect the JeM chief from being targeted by the Indian forces, it was believed. However, now the Intelligence agencies have been able to confirm that all is not well with Azhar and the top command has been bickering over a leadership change.
Another official said that the outfit is in a dilemma on whether to appoint a member of Azhar’s family as chief or someone who has experience in operations. The official explained that for the cadres to remain united, a family member would be the first option. However, the outfit known for carrying out large-scale and lethal attacks is also in need of a strong commander.
Abdul Jabbar, who is in charge of military affairs, would be a choice as he oversees on-ground operations that also include logistics and planning. Azhar’s brother, Talha Al Saif, is unlikely to make the cut as his primary role has been limited to managing digital wallets for Jaish-e-Mohammed funding.
Azhar’s son, Abdullah Azhar, has experience when it comes to the financial operations of the outfit through digital platforms. Another choice would have been Yusuf Azhar, the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar. He was in charge of weapons training, but he was killed during Operation Sindoor, and Masood Azhar himself confirmed this in an audio clip that he shared.
In the same audio clip, Azhar, however, did not mention the name of Abdul Rauf Azhar, his brother. This has led to speculation on whether or not Rauf Azhar is alive, or if he, too, was killed during Operation Sindoor. Abdul Rauf has not been visible for sometime and this has led to more speculation. The Indian agencies say that Azhar could well be hiding the fact of his brother’s death to ensure that the morale of the cadre does not collapse. This could be a ploy on the part of the top leadership, the official explained.
Another official said that, looking at the condition that Masood Azhar is in, the Jaish-e-Mohammed, with the guidance of the ISI, would soon look to effect a leadership change as it is inevitable and the cadres are getting extremely edgy.
