Bilawal Bhutto makes shocking statement, says Pakistan doesn't know where Masood Azhar is, may be in...

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Pakistan has no information about the location of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Bhutto claimed that Pakistan believes Azhar may be hiding in Afghanistan, not in Pakistan. He said, “It’s not possible for Pakistan to do what NATO couldn’t do in Afghanistan,” referring to the West’s withdrawal and the Taliban’s return to power. Bhutto added that Pakistan has no interest in allowing any wanted person to be active on its soil.

Masood Azhar is one of India’s most wanted terrorists. He has been linked to major terror attacks, including the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, and the 2019 Pulwama bombing. In 1999, he was released from an Indian jail during the Kandahar hijacking crisis. He was later designated a global terrorist by the United Nations in 2019.

Bhutto, whose party is part of the ruling coalition in Pakistan, said that India had not provided any credible evidence that Azhar is in Pakistan. “If and when India shares such information, we would be more than happy to arrest him,” he said.

When asked why Pakistan was waiting for India to act, Bhutto pointed to international cooperation in fighting terrorism. He explained that countries exchange intelligence regularly, which has helped prevent attacks in cities like London, New York, and Islamabad.

Bhutto also responded to a recent report by The New York Times, which claimed that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed was moving around freely. Bhutto denied the claim, saying, “That’s factually not correct. Hafiz Saeed is in the custody of the Pakistani state.”

His statements come shortly after India launched "Operation Sindoor" on May 7, following a terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 that killed 26 civilians. India struck nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including JeM’s base in Bahawalpur and LeT’s headquarters in Muridke.