Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, has admitted that 10 of his family members and four close associates were killed in India’s strike on his terrorist outfit’s headquarters in Bahawalpur.

A statement attributed to Azhar and reported by PTI said those killed in the attack on Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah camp in Bahawalpur included the JeM chief's elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife, another niece, and five children from his extended family.

The attack also claimed the lives of one of Azhar's close associates and his mother, along with two other close companions, the statement said.

"This act of brutality has broken all boundaries. There should be no expectation of mercy now," it quoted Azhar as saying added.

Indian Army Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh confirmed that nine terror camps were hit, four in Pakistan and five in PoK. Among the Pakistani targets were camps in Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sarjal, and Mehmoona Joya—all known hubs of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hizbul Mujahideen activity.

Azhar was released by India in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane IC-814 in 1999. He was serving a prison term in India for kidnappings of foreign tourists in the country.

The elusive Azhar, who has not been seen in public since April 2019, is believed to be hiding in a "safe place" in Bahawalpur.

The group has been involved in a series of terror attacks in India, including the Parliament attack in 2001, the strike on the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in 2000, the attack on the IAF base in Pathankot in 2016 and the Pulwama suicide bombing in 2019.

The Indian military carried out a "measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible" strike to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan to "deter and to pre-empt" any further terrorist strikes, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said hours after India's strikes.