Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar moved to ISI safe houses amid security fears. NDTV reported on November 14 that the two terrorists got relocated due to concerns over possible attacks. Saeed now uses audio messages to communicate, while Azhar has limited contact with his group members.
Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar have reportedly been moved to heavily guarded safe houses controlled by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), amid concerns over possible Indian strikes and attacks by unidentified gunmen. The two UN-designated terrorists were relocated over the past week, NDTV reported on November 14, citing intelligence sources. The claims contradict Pakistan's official position that Saeed is serving a prison sentence for terror financing. According to the report, Saeed was moved from Lahore's Johar Town to the Garrison Ground area of Rawalpindi, near the Pakistan Army's headquarters.
Azhar has reportedly been shifted to Nawabshah in Sindh province. Saeed has stopped meeting Lashkar operatives in person and now communicates through audio messages, the report said. His security has been tightened and his movements restricted. Azhar has similarly limited contact with Jaish members, communicating only with a small group that includes senior commanders. Intelligence sources cited by NDTV attributed the relocations to concerns within the ISI over further Indian military action and attacks by unidentified gunmen who have killed several anti-India militants in Pakistan in recent months.
Operation Sindoor and its aftermath The reported moves come more than a year after India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, targeting nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. The strikes included Jaish's Markaz Subhan Allah complex in Bahawalpur and Lashkar's headquarters at Muridke. Indian authorities said the operation targeted terrorist infrastructure. According to NDTV's sources, the Bahawalpur facility suffered extensive damage, leaving Jaish struggling to reorganise its operations. Pakistan's position on Saeed and Azhar Pakistan maintains that Saeed is imprisoned at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail following convictions in terror-financing cases.
The UN Security Council's sanctions listing also records Saeed as being in Pakistani custody, serving a 78-year sentence following convictions in seven terror-financing cases since February 2020. However, intelligence sources quoted by NDTV disputed that account, claiming Saeed is living in an ISI-controlled safe house. Pakistan has also listed Azhar as a fugitive. In September 2026, its Federal Investigation Agency raised the reward for information leading to his arrest to seven million Pakistani rupees. India's Ministry of External Affairs dismissed the announcement as a publicity exercise and demanded concrete action against terrorism.
Pakistan's foreign ministry subsequently defended the listing as part of its commitment to enforcing domestic and international laws. Saeed, designated by the UN in December 2008, is accused by India of masterminding the 26/11 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. Azhar, designated by the UN in May 2019, founded Jaish-e-Mohammed after his release during the 1999 IC-814 hijacking crisis. His organisation has been linked to the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2016 Pathankot airbase assault and the 2019 Pulwama bombing.