SOURCE: AFI
Azaz Syed, an Islamabad-based Pakistani journalist and author of The Secrets of Pakistan’s War on Al-Qaeda, has made a provocative claim that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has placed 16 prominent Pakistani personalities on a targeted hitlist. In a statement that has stirred tensions across the border, Syed named several high-profile militants, including Masood Azhar, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), his brother Mufti Abdul Rauf, and Fazal ur Rehman Khalil, the founder of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), as key targets. He further cautioned that Pakistan could respond with its own hitlist targeting figures in India if such alleged operations persist, escalating the shadow war between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
Syed’s assertions, made public on March 22, 2025, come amid a backdrop of heightened Indo-Pak friction, with cross-border militancy and covert operations often dominating the discourse. Masood Azhar, infamous for orchestrating the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing, has long been a thorn in India’s side, evading capture despite a UN designation as a global terrorist. His brother, Mufti Abdul Rauf, is a senior JeM operative, while Fazal ur Rehman Khalil, a veteran jihadist tied to HuM and allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda, carries his own legacy of militancy from the Afghan-Soviet war era. Syed’s claim that these figures are on RAW’s radar aligns with India’s stated policy of neutralizing threats emanating from Pakistani soil, though no official confirmation has emerged from New Delhi.
The journalist’s list of 16 targets—only three of whom were named publicly—suggests a broader campaign against Pakistan-based terror outfits. Syed, known for his investigative work on Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts, did not provide evidence to substantiate his claims, leaving room for speculation about his sources. .
Syed’s warning of a retaliatory Pakistani hitlist adds a volatile dimension to the narrative. “If India continues to carry out such hits in Pakistan, Pakistan might react with a similar strategy in India,” he said, hinting at a tit-for-tat covert war. This threat evokes memories of Pakistan’s historical support for proxy groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and JeM, though its capacity for such operations may be constrained by internal instability and international scrutiny post-FATF grey-listing. The absence of specifics about Pakistan’s potential targets fuels debate over whether this is a credible deterrent or a rhetorical salvo aimed at domestic audiences.
For India, targeting figures like Azhar and Khalil would fit its post-Uri and Pulwama doctrine of preemptive strikes—seen in the 2016 surgical strikes and 2019 Balakot airstrike. The Indian Army and intelligence agencies have repeatedly accused Pakistan of harboring terrorists, a charge Islamabad counters by alleging India sponsors unrest in Balochistan and elsewhere. Syed’s hitlist claim thus feeds into a long-standing narrative of mutual recrimination, with both sides accusing the other of destabilizing tactics.
The implications are stark. If true, RAW’s alleged operations signal a bold shift toward extraterritorial eliminations, risking diplomatic fallout and regional escalation. Pakistan’s threatened retaliation, while speculative, could strain an already fragile détente, especially as both nations bolster their military postures—India with its Tejas Mk1A rollout and Pakistan with Chinese J-10C jets. On X, opinions split along predictable lines: Indian users hail it as justice for terror victims, while Pakistani voices decry it as aggression, with one post warning, “This could spiral into something neither side can control.”
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