Media reports suggest Masood Azhar is dead

Masood Azhar of the Jaish-e-Mohammed which has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama suicide attack is reportedly dead days after the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted airstrikes on terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot. However, there was no confirmation from any authoritative sources.

Pakistan officials said they had no information other than that Azhar was undergoing treatment at an army hospital after suffering renal failure.

There are also speculations that he was grievously injured during the bombardment by Indian Air Force (IAF) on his terror camp in Balakot and was treated at Pakistan army hospital.

Jaish-e-Mohammed had identified suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar as the one who carried out the attack on February 14 that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans. In an unverified 10-minute video recorded before the attack, Dar also mentioned that many more people like him were ready to 'follow the same path'. 

 Amid growing pressure to show the damage caused by IAF's precision bombing on the Jaish-e-Mohammed training facility, India is contemplating releasing evidence in the days to come to silence those doubting the impact. The IAF had declared that disclosing proof of the air strike impact was a call to be taken by the government even though electronic evidence gathered by radar images was sufficient to establish the damage caused to the structures.

Though there was no credible confirmation about the number of casualties, and Pakistani establishment remaining in denial mode, a video clip of Masood Azhar's brother Maulana Ammar had surfaced on Saturday where he can be heard accepting that the Balakot camp had taken a hit. The recording is said to be from a public function organized in Peshawar after the air strike.