Pakistan's federal investigative agency (FIA) has reportedly issued its 2026 list of most wanted terrorists, with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar among those named. The reward for information leading to his capture has been raised from PKR 20 lakh to PKR 70 lakh.
The move to include Azhar on the list comes ahead of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary scheduled for October, as Pakistan seeks to prevent its return to the grey list. Notably, FATF is the global body that sets standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Pakistan lists Masood Azhar among most wanted terrorists
Pakistan has claimed since 2021 that Azhar is no longer in the country and had instead escaped to Afghanistan. The FIA had announced a PKR 50 lakh reward for information leading to his arrest that year. Five years on, the amount has now been increased to PKR 70 lakh.
The FIA's latest Red Book also names 19 terrorists linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. They are accused of helping the attackers by providing funds, assisting with logistics or arranging boats used by the operatives.
The revised list names 11 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists who helped arrange the attackers' sea journey on the boats Al-Hussaini and Al-Fauz: Muhammad Amjad Khan (Multan), Shahid Gafoor (Bahawalpur), Mohammad Usman (Sahiwal), Ateeq-ur-Rehman (Lahore), Riaz Ahmad (Hafizabad), Muhammad Mushtaq (Gujranwala), Muhammad Naeem (Dera Ghazi Khan), Abdul Shakoor (Karachi), Muhammad Sabir Salfi (Multan), Muhammad Usman (Lodhran), and Shakeel Ahmed (Rahim Yar Khan), news agency ANI said in a report.
The list also names six terrorists accused of funding the 26/11 attacks: Muhammad Iftikhar Ali (Faisalabad), an LeT operative who spent PKR 70,000 on setting up VOIP connections that allowed the attackers to communicate with their handlers; Mohammad Zia (Rawalpindi), who gave PKR 80,000 to LeT for the attack; Mohammad Abbas Nasir (Khanewal), who contributed PKR 2,53,000; Javed Iqbal (Kasur), who provided PKR 1,86,430; Mukhtar Ahmad (Mandi Bahauddin), who donated PKR 2,98,047; and Ahmed Saeed (Battagram), who provided PKR 21 lakh for the operation.
India accused Pakistan of ‘feigning ignorance’ about Azhar
Masood Azhar is among India's most-wanted terrorists and has been linked to the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2016 Pathankot attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack.
The JeM chief, who has also been designated a global terrorist by the United Nations, was released by India in 1999 in exchange for passengers held during the IC-814 hijacking.
India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of "feigning ignorance" about the presence of Azhar and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed in the country.