Bhawalpur [Pakistan], May 8 : Prominent author and journalist Asra Nomani, who has long chronicled the rise of terror networks in Pakistan's Bahawalpur, hailed India's latest counter-terror operation, Operation Sindoor, as a long-overdue strike against a city that has served for decades as a launchpad for militant activity.
In a post on X, Nomani stated, "For the 23 years since, I have reported on how Pakistani intelligence and military leaders have used that city Bahawalpur in the southern province of Punjab as a base for its homegrown domestic terrorists."
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I still have chills in my heart from when I first heard that town’s name in late January 2002. For the 23 years since, I have reported on how Pakistani intelligence and military leaders have used that city — Bahawalpur — in the southern province of Punjab as a base… pic.twitter.com/nFF6geUTp7
— Asra Nomani (@AsraNomani) May 8, 2025
Bahawalpur, in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province, has long been identified as a breeding ground for extremist groups. Nomani recalled the 2001 experience of a friend who visited the city and found militant camps operating in plain sight. She stated that her friend learned that the militant training camps were open for business in Bahawalpur.
She also highlighted the Pakistani military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)'s history of providing safe passage and support to terrorist figures such as Omar Sheikh and Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM) founder Masood Azhar. Both have been used as proxy assets against India, but have also turned their guns inward, attacking Pakistani civil society.
Nomani said that these men waged war against innocent Pakistanis, citing high-profile attacks such as the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, and school massacres like the 2014 Army Public School attack in Peshawar.
Following India's successful counter-terror offensive under 'Operation Sindoor' on Wednesday, targeting locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), the terror stronghold in Bahawalpur, Punjab, was decimated.
Bahawalpur is home to the Markaz Subhan Allah, a key Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) facility that has been active since 2015. Serving as the group's primary hub for training, indoctrination, and operations, it also functions as JeM's operational headquarters. The centre has been linked to multiple terror plots, including the February 14, 2019, Pulwama attack. It houses the residences of JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar, de facto leader Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, Maulana Ammar, and other members of Azhar's family.
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