Where is Masood Azhar? Taliban contradicts Pakistan as India prepares to put Islamabad in the dock at FATF

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India is preparing to challenge Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in Paris from October 28 to 30 over Islamabad’s failure to demonstrate verifiable action against United Nations-designated Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, CNN-News18 reported. The dispute has gained fresh significance after Afghanistan’s Taliban government rejected Pakistan’s claim that Azhar crossed into Afghan territory in 2019, raising questions over Islamabad’s explanation for its failure to apprehend the wanted terrorist.

According to people familiar with the matter, cited by CNN-News18, New Delhi intends to highlight the contradiction between Pakistan’s account of Azhar’s whereabouts and Kabul’s denial that he is present in Afghanistan. The confrontation comes as Pakistan seeks to demonstrate its compliance with international counter-terror financing obligations, despite continuing questions over the enforcement of sanctions against designated terrorist leaders and the networks accused of supporting them.

Masood Azhar’s whereabouts put Pakistan under pressure

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has included Azhar in its 2026 Red Book of most-wanted terrorists, offering a reward of PKR 7 million, approximately Rs 70 lakh, for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

The listing has done little to resolve India’s concerns over whether Pakistan is making a substantive effort to locate and prosecute the JeM chief. In September, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the bounty announcement as a “phony” move, saying Islamabad needed to take actual action against terrorism rather than issue announcements that New Delhi considers inconsequential.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office has defended the listing, arguing that it demonstrates the country’s commitment to enforcing domestic and international law. However, the competing accounts over Azhar’s location have intensified scrutiny of Islamabad’s claims.

Pakistan has maintained that Azhar left the country for Afghanistan in 2019. Taliban spokesperson Zia Ahmad Thakal said in September that Azhar was not in Afghanistan and that Pakistan had not formally informed Kabul of his presence there. The Taliban has also reiterated its stated position that Afghan territory should not be used to launch attacks against other countries.

Azhar founded JeM in 2000 after being released from Indian custody in December 1999 in exchange for passengers and crew aboard hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814. The group has been linked to several major attacks in India, including the December 2001 Parliament attack, the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing. The UN Security Council designated Azhar a global terrorist in May 2019.

JeM’s alleged digital fundraising networks under scrutiny

India’s concerns extend beyond Azhar’s whereabouts to the financial channels allegedly used by JeM to sustain its operations. Investigative reports citing intelligence and security sources have indicated that the group has increasingly relied on digital wallets and mobile payment platforms, including Easypaisa and SadaPay, to collect and transfer money.

Some of the wallets have allegedly been linked to members of Azhar’s family, including his son Abdullah Azhar. These reported connections have raised questions about whether existing monitoring and enforcement mechanisms are adequately identifying financial activity associated with designated terrorist figures.

The reported methods involve collecting contributions through multiple wallets, transferring money between accounts, splitting payments into smaller amounts and withdrawing funds as cash. Such practices can complicate efforts to trace the original source and final destination of transactions.

Reports have also flagged the possible use of cryptocurrency, including the stablecoin USDT, to move funds outside conventional banking channels. The precise scale of these transactions and the alleged links between individual accounts and JeM have not been independently established.

Fundraising appeals have reportedly been presented as requests for humanitarian assistance for Gaza or donations for mosques and religious centres. Investigators have alleged that some contributions collected under these descriptions could be diverted towards the group’s infrastructure and activities.

There have also been concerns about reported plans to establish religious centres, or markaz, across Pakistan. Security assessments have raised questions about whether such institutions could provide organisational cover for recruitment, training and other activities associated with militant networks.

The allegations highlight the difficulties of tracking terrorist financing when groups can shift between digital payment platforms, charitable appeals, intermediaries and alternative financial channels.

Hafiz Saeed, Lashkar-e-Taiba also in focus

India is also expected to raise concerns about the enforcement of measures against other UN-designated terrorist figures, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed. While Pakistan has taken visible steps against Saeed, New Delhi maintains that questions remain over the wider networks associated with LeT and JeM, including their fundraising activities, affiliates and cross-border operations.

LeT has also been reported to have adapted its fundraising and organisational structures, including through digital collections and political or charitable fronts. The group and JeM remain central to international counter-terrorism discussions because of their links to attacks in India and concerns over the implementation of sanctions against their leadership and associated networks.

Pakistan faces a wider militant challenge as well. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) continues to carry out attacks inside the country. UN estimates have placed the group’s strength at around 6,000 fighters in eastern Afghan provinces.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused militants of operating from sanctuaries across the Afghan border, while the Taliban government has denied responsibility for Pakistan’s security problems. Baloch separatist groups, including the Baloch Liberation Army, along with networks linked to al-Qaeda and other militant factions, add to the region’s security challenges.

The wider threat environment makes the implementation of counter-terrorism measures particularly significant, including action against individuals and organisations already subject to international sanctions.

Why the FATF plenary matters for Pakistan

Pakistan was placed on the FATF grey list in 2018 because of deficiencies in its efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The international watchdog removed the country from the list in October 2022 after concluding that Islamabad had addressed the substantial technical deficiencies identified in its 2018 and 2021 action plans, which contained 34 action items.

Pakistan has maintained that it strengthened its anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing framework and fulfilled the requirements laid down by the watchdog.

However, removal from the grey list did not eliminate concerns about the enforcement of sanctions against individual terrorist leaders or the dismantling of networks associated with designated organisations. India’s position is that formal compliance and administrative measures must be distinguished from demonstrable action against those accused of supporting terrorism.

The dispute over Azhar illustrates that distinction. Pakistan has placed the JeM chief on its most-wanted list and announced a financial reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. India, however, is seeking evidence of concrete efforts to locate him and bring him to justice, particularly after the Taliban rejected Islamabad’s account of his whereabouts.

At the Paris plenary, the issue is expected to form part of India’s broader effort to scrutinise Pakistan’s enforcement record on terrorist financing. The central question is whether Islamabad’s stated commitments are translating into verifiable action against designated individuals and the financial networks alleged to sustain groups such as JeM and LeT.