India targets Markaz Subhan Allah: Jaish-e-Mohammad’s nerve center in Bahawalpur hit in Operation Sindoor

What Was Markaz Subhan Allah and Why Was It Targeted?

In a pre-dawn strike on May 7, 2025, Indian armed forces carried out coordinated strikes under the banner of Operation Sindoor, targeting nine high-value terrorist facilities across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). Among them, Markaz Subhan Allah, located along National Highway-5 in Bahawalpur, stood out as the most strategically and symbolically significant target.

Markaz Subhan Allah, a sprawling 15-acre compound, has long functioned as the ideological and operational headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), one of the most lethal Pakistan-based terror groups involved in repeated cross-border attacks in India. Intelligence agencies in India have consistently identified the site as a hub for recruitment, radicalisation, weapons training, and operational planning.

According to Indian security officials, the site played a pivotal role in orchestrating the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, which resulted in the deaths of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. That suicide bombing, one of the deadliest on Indian soil, had led to a spike in tensions between India and Pakistan and marked a turning point in India’s counter-terror posture.

Who Were the Key Terror Figures Associated With the Facility?

The compound is deeply associated with the upper echelon of JeM’s leadership. Intelligence assessments have frequently cited that Maulana Masood Azhar, JeM’s founder and designated global terrorist by the United Nations, either resided in or frequently visited the facility until reportedly being placed under protective custody in Rawalpindi or Islamabad.

Operational control of the camp has reportedly remained with Azhar’s younger brother, Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, who is known to have taken over day-to-day running of JeM after international pressure increased on Pakistan to sideline Masood Azhar publicly. Another senior figure, Yusuf Azhar, also believed to have been killed in the 2019 Balakot strikes, was historically linked to this same network, further underscoring the site’s centrality to JeM’s hierarchy.

The site is also reported to house Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah, which served both as a radical preaching venue and administrative centre for logistical coordination of training modules, indoctrination programmes, and movement of recruits across the Line of Control (LoC).

What Happened During the Airstrike?

According to sources within India’s security establishment, the strike on Markaz Subhan Allah was executed with precision air-dropped munitions, which reportedly resulted in the complete destruction of the facility, including major training quarters, dormitories, and the mosque. Visuals released by Indian media outlets and corroborated by satellite imagery depict widespread structural collapse, heavy debris, and crater marks consistent with air-to-surface missile impacts.

Initial reports from Pakistani territory claimed 13 fatalities, including five children and several adult relatives of Masood Azhar. Azhar himself reportedly confirmed that ten of his family members were killed in the strike, although there has been no official confirmation of his exact location during the event. Pakistani authorities condemned the strike and labelled it a violation of sovereignty, while simultaneously acknowledging the civilian deaths.

India, however, maintained that only verified terrorist infrastructure was targeted. A statement from the Indian Ministry of Defence asserted that “measures were taken to minimise collateral damage,” and that “targets were selected based on confirmed real-time intelligence inputs involving active threat matrices.”

Why Was This Operation Carried Out Now?

Indian defence officials attribute the timing of the operation to a series of recent infiltration attempts and attacks in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, most notably the April 2025 Pahalgam ambush, in which five Indian soldiers lost their lives. Intelligence inputs had flagged a fresh resurgence in terror mobilisation, particularly from groups like JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba, operating under the umbrella support of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

According to National Security Adviser-level briefings, Operation Sindoor was formulated as a multi-domain response, combining air, cyber, and electronic warfare capabilities to dismantle the infrastructure feeding cross-border terrorism. Sources suggest that the target selection was finalised based on geospatial, signal, and human intelligence inputs over a 60-day window.

What Is the Strategic Significance of Markaz Subhan Allah?

The destruction of Markaz Subhan Allah delivers both a tactical and psychological setback to Jaish-e-Mohammad. As its central command node, the site enabled seamless coordination between operational commanders, logistical cells, and training cadres. With this facility gone, Indian defence analysts believe that JeM’s ability to mount coordinated operations in the near term has been severely compromised.

Historically, Bahawalpur has remained off-limits to international inspections due to Pakistan’s consistent denial of terror infrastructure within its borders. Despite repeated dossiers provided by India and intelligence shared with FATF member countries, the Pakistani state continued to allow JeM operations under indirect state patronage, often cloaked as religious or educational activity.

International pressure, particularly post-Pulwama and following the Balakot airstrikes, had forced Pakistan to publicly freeze JeM’s assets and put Azhar under so-called house arrest, but Indian agencies maintained that the Bahawalpur camp remained fully functional behind the scenes, serving as a rotating facility for JeM’s next cadre of militants.

What Has Been the Response From Pakistan?

Pakistan’s Foreign Office swiftly condemned the strikes as a “reckless violation of international norms”, warning that any further provocation would invite retaliation. Pakistani officials confirmed civilian casualties and stated that damage assessments were ongoing. No acknowledgement of JeM’s activity at the site was made, aligning with Pakistan’s longstanding policy of strategic denial regarding terror groups operating on its soil.

However, Indian strategic experts view Pakistan’s muted military response as indicative of the calibrated nature of the Indian strikes, which were reportedly designed to avoid civilian population centres and instead target only pre-designated terror installations.

What Could Be the Fallout?

The fallout from the destruction of Markaz Subhan Allah could be multi-layered. Domestically, the move has been widely supported across political lines in India, with national security voices hailing it as a long-overdue punitive action against persistent cross-border threats. Internationally, while strategic partners like the United States and France have reiterated the need for regional de-escalation, they have also signalled understanding of India’s “right to defend itself against terrorism.”

From a regional perspective, India-Pakistan relations are likely to remain tense. Indian officials have reiterated that future actions will be determined by ground realities, implying that further strikes are possible if terror activities continue to emanate from Pakistan.

Strategic Messaging and Implications

The targeting of Markaz Subhan Allah during Operation Sindoor is emblematic of India’s shift toward proactive counter-terrorism doctrine, which is no longer confined to reactive diplomacy or cross-border posturing. Instead, India is signalling its willingness to directly dismantle terrorist ecosystems at their source, using calibrated kinetic force combined with intelligence dominance.

This is not the first time India has conducted such operations. The 2016 surgical strikes and the 2019 Balakot airstrikes were precedent-setting, but the scale and target significance of the May 2025 operation marks a new phase in regional security dynamics.

The elimination of JeM’s ideological and operational heart sends a clear signal that Indian military strategy has evolved from tactical retaliation to strategic disruption, with implications not just for Pakistan-based terror groups but also for state actors that enable them.