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Islamabad : Pakistan’s Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) has released a list of most wanted terrorists for 2026. One of terrorists in the Red book is Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar. The bounty on Azhar has been raised by PKR 20 Lakh to PKR 70 Lakh.
This bid to show Azhar on the list of terrorists appears to be nothing more than a smokescreen from Pakistan. The move comes ahead of the upcoming Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in October, as Pakistan seeks to avoid falling back onto the grey list, said sources.
To evade action and deceive the international community, Pakistan began claiming in 2021 that Azhar was no longer on its soil but had fled to Afghanistan, while the FIA initially placed a PKR 50 lakh reward on him that same year. Five years later, the bounty was hiked to PKR 70 lakh. Azhar is the mastermind behind several terror strikes in India including the Pulwama strike.
The FIA’s newly updated Red Book also contains the names of 19 terrorists involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks who assisted, financed, or managed boats for the operatives.
Sources say, while 17 of these terrorists are listed along with their photographs and specific roles in 26/11, Pakistan has covertly removed the photographs, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) affiliations, and detailed operational roles of two terrorists, retaining only their names.
Specifically, the FIA retains the name of Muhammad Khan from Turbat who provided the boat Al-Hussaini to transport the attackers to Mumbai in its updated list, but has excised his photograph, LeT link, and role. Similarly, the photograph and LeT affiliation of Abdul Rehman from Bahawalnagar have been stripped from the record. Both individuals had their full roles and photos published in the 2021 FIA list, said sources.
The updated roster lists 11 LeT terrorists responsible for facilitating the sea voyage of the attackers aboard the boats Al-Hussaini and Al-Fauz: Muhammad Amjad Khan (Multan), Shahid Gafoor (Bahawalpur), Mohammad Usman (Sahiwal), Ateeq-ur-Rehman (Lahore), Riaz Ahmad (Hafizabad), Muhammad Mushtaq (Gujranwala), Muhammad Naeem (Dera Ghazi Khan), Abdul Shakoor (Karachi), Muhammad Sabir Salfi (Multan), Muhammad Usman (Lodhran), and Shakeel Ahmed (Rahim Yar Khan).
Furthermore, the list features six terrorists who provided financial backing for the 26/11 attacks: Muhammad Iftikhar Ali (Faisalabad), an LeT operative who spent PKR 70,000 to set up VOIP connections enabling communication between the attackers and their handlers; Mohammad Zia (Rawalpindi), who provided PKR 80,000 to LeT for the attack; Mohammad Abbas Nasir (Khanewal), who contributed PKR 2,53,000; Javed Iqbal (Kasur), who supplied PKR 1,86,430; Mukhtar Ahmad (Mandi Bahauddin), who donated PKR 2,98,047; and Ahmed Saeed (Battagram), who provided PKR 21 lakh for the operation.
According to the FIA, all 17 terrorists involved in the 26/11 attacks have been absconding for 18 years. Sources however say, Indian intelligence sources confirmed that all 17 individuals remain inside Pakistan, and that placing them on the FIA Most Wanted list is merely an eyewash to misdirect international scrutiny.
Over the past five years, the total count of most wanted terrorists in Pakistan has surged by 35%, growing from 1,330 terrorists in the FIA’s 2021 Red Book to 1,804 in the latest release.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) headquarters in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, was among the hardest hit in India’s precision strikes under Operation Sindoor. The Indian Armed forces confirmed the destruction of the Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, located 100 km inside Pakistan.
Markaz Subhan Allah, Bahawalpur, operational since 2015, is the main centre of JeM for training and indoctrination and serves as the operational headquarters of JeM. It is associated with terrorist planning by JeM, including the Pulwama attack on February 14, 2019.
The Markaz consists of residences of JeM Chief Maulana Masood Azhar, de facto Chief of JeM Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, Maulana Ammar and other family members of Masood Azhar. Masood Azhar has made several addresses from this facility, extolling anti-India rhetoric and appealing to youth to join Islamic Jihad. JeM conducts regular arms, physical and religious training for its cadres at Markaz Subhan Allah. (Agencies)
