India Claims Elimination of Terrorist Involved in Abduction and Murder of American Journalist Daniel Pearl

Latest Developments

• Wanted Islamist Terrorist Killed: India announced on May 8 that its armed forces had eliminated Islamist terrorist Abdul Rauf Azhar, a co-conspirator in the 2002 abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Azhar was reportedly killed during India’s “Operation Sindoor,” launched on May 7 in response to the April 22 massacre of 26 civilians by Islamist terrorists in the Kashmir region. As part of the operation, Indian airstrikes reportedly targeted nine locations across Pakistan and Kashmir linked to the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Azhar’s own organization, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).
• Azhar’s Terror Record: Azhar was one of the masterminds behind the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814, which resulted in the release of three men held by India on terrorism charges, including Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was later convicted in the kidnapping and murder of Pearl. Azhar was also implicated in the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament and the 2016 attack on the Pathankot air base, both carried out by JeM. He assumed leadership of the group in 2007 and was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2010.
• Daniel Pearl’s Ordeal: Pearl, an American Jewish journalist, was serving as the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal when he was abducted from his Karachi hotel on January 23, 2002, by Islamist terrorists. On February 1, 2002, Pearl was brutally decapitated; al-Qaeda terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed later claimed that he had personally beheaded Pearl. In response, then President George W. Bush expressed his sorrow to Pearl’s wife, who at the time was pregnant with their child, saying, “We’re especially saddened for his unborn child, who will now know his father only through the memory of others.”

FDD Expert Response:

“There was a time — I remember it well — when foreign correspondents were considered neutral and disinterested observers. More than that: Those on both sides of almost any conflict were eager to talk to reporters, to tell them their stories and thereby make their case to the world. Jihadists don’t see it that way. And with the advent of the internet, they don’t need to. They can tell their story as they did with Daniel Pearl — by slaughtering him, recording the murder, and posting it online. Foreign correspondence hasn’t been the same since.” — Clifford D. May, Founder and President

“The death of Abdul Rauf Azhar, if confirmed, is a welcome development and long overdue. Azhar, a U.S.-listed Specially Designated Global Terrorist who served as a senior leader in Jaish-e-Mohammad and took control of the group for a time after his brother Masood, its founder, went underground. Jaish-e-Mohammad has been implicated in numerous terror attacks in the region, including the kidnapping and brutal murder and beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. JeM, which is backed by the Pakistani state, is a close ally of al-Qaeda. India did the world a favor and has provided a long overdue measure of justice to the Pearl family.” — Bill Roggio, Senior Fellow and Editor of FDD’s Long War Journal

“In many ways, Daniel Pearl’s savage murder just five months after the 9/11 atrocities marked the beginning of a new wave of intense antisemitism driven by Islamist organizations. His final words — ‘My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish’ — resonate as loudly now, nearly a quarter of a century later, as they did back then.” — Ben Cohen, Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Director

FDD Background and Analysis

“India and Pakistan exchange fire after Jammu and Kashmir terror attack,” by Bill Roggio

“Lashkar-e Taiba front group claims responsibility for deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, India,” by Bill Roggio

“US designates Pakistan-based leaders of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammed as terrorists,” by Bill Roggio