New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) announced a fresh bounty of PKR 70 lakh on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, maintaining that the terrorist leader is hiding in Afghanistan, a claim intelligence agencies and global observers view as an attempt to evade scrutiny by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The move comes at a time when Pakistan remains under scrutiny over its actions against terror financing and militant groups. Security officials and Pakistan observers, however, believe the increased bounty is aimed at creating an impression of action against Azhar while keeping his actual whereabouts away from international scrutiny.While announcing the hike in the bounty, the FIA maintained that Azhar is in Afghanistan and not in Pakistan, a claim that has repeatedly been rejected by the Afghan Taliban.Indian intelligence officials also claim that Azhar is very much in Pakistan. An Intelligence Bureau official said that their tracking clearly reveals that he is very much in Pakistan.“During Operation Sindoor, he was very much in Bahawalpur, but not at the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters that was hit. At the time of the operation, he was immediately shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi. He has been on and off at the facility as he suffers from chronic renal failure,” the official said.

Another official said that Azhar has been moved multiple times within Pakistan after the Operation Sindoor was launched last year. The Jaish chief has not returned to Bahawalpur since the operation and has instead been shifted between at least three or four locations.“He is never kept in one place for long due to security reasons. When he was at the Rawalpindi hospital, a mysterious explosion had taken place during which he suffered minor injuries,” the official added.The officials said Azhar’s frequent shifting is driven not only by security concerns but also by mounting pressure from the FATF.The ISI cannot afford to lose Azhar, especially at a time when the JeM is on a rebuilding spree. Azhar has consistently put out audio clips urging cadres and potential recruits to remain brave and fight valiantly against the Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir.“He is a polarising figure, and the ISI needs to keep him safe. Moreover, with tensions so high with the Taliban, the possibility of Pakistan moving him to Afghanistan is impossible,” the officials said.Another official said that intelligence tracking by India suggests that Azhar is very often housed at a facility in Nawabshah City in the Sindh Province. He also has another safe house at Skardu, which is located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The PoK region is on the boil due to the protests. This led to a change in strategy when it came to recruitment. The ISI has stopped recruitment in PoK for now and has focused on the rest of Pakistan to pick up youth to join terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish.“This also prompted Pakistan to move Azhar away from PoK and send him back to Nawabshah. He is currently moved between Nawabshah and Rawalpindi,” officials say.Pakistan observers say that the increased bounty is only to hoodwink the FATF. Pakistan’s claims that Azhar is in Afghanistan are incorrect, and the ISI is not going to risk keeping him there at a time when relations between the two countries have deteriorated, the experts say.This is, however, not the first time that the FIA has announced a bounty on Azhar. In 2021, a bounty of PKR 50 lakh was announced by the FIA. Even at that time, Pakistan claimed that he is not on its soil. After the 2021 bounty, nothing much changed where the Jaish and Azhar were concerned.Azhar has overseen the JeM adapting new tactics in Jammu and Kashmir, such as transitioning towards hybrid warfare and setting up proxy fronts.To evade scrutiny of the FATF, the Jaish operated under proxy terror outfits such as the People’s Anti Fascist Front (PAFF). This outfit has claimed responsibility for deadly ambushes on the Indian security forces in the dense forest areas of Poonch and Rajouri.Officials say that the current focus of Pakistan is to keep Azhar safe and also away from the eyes of the FATF. While he had put out several audio clips to boost the morale of his cadre, the ISI has deliberately asked him to stop doing so at least for some time.Islamabad wants to give the impression that Azhar is out of the country and Pakistan has nothing to do with him at least until the FATF meetings scheduled between October 26 and 30 in Paris are complete, an official said.

/IANS