Alternative Names:
Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) (Society for Preaching), al-Anfal Trust, Tehrik-e-Hurmate-e-Rasool, al Mansoorian (The Victorious), Army of the Pure, Paasban-e-Kashmir (Kashmir Brigade), Paasban-i-Ahle-Hadith (Ahle-Hadith Brigade), Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Lashkar-i-Toiba (LiT), Lashkar-i-Taiba (Holy Regiment), Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous), Lashkar-e-Taibyya, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (Army of the Pure and Righteous), Lashkar-e-Taiba (Righteous Army), Lashkar-Taiba (Army of the Good), Lashkar e Toiba, Lashkar e Taiba, Lashkar-E-Tayyaba, Lashkar e Tayyiba
Location:
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) has operated in India and Pakistan. During the 1990s, the group focused its operations in Jammu and Kashmir. Early on in the 2000s, the group began to carry out attacks throughout India, including New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. It reportedly has cells throughout Jammu and Kashmir.
LeT is headquartered in Muridke, a small town near Lahore in Punjab province.
Leadership:
The strategic decisions of the organization are taken by a committee consisting of emir Naib Amir (deputy chief), the finance chief and a few other members.
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is the founder and emir of LeT.
Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi is Supreme Commander of Kashmir and the operational commander.
Yahiya Mujahid serves as the spokesman of the group.
Membership:
In 2011, the US National Counterterrorism Center estimated the group’s numbers at several thousand.
Funding Sources:
LeT maintains recruitment and training centres across Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, the group has used Markaz-ad-Dawa-Irshad and Jamaat ud Dawaa to collect donations.
The group has received large amounts of aid from donors from the Middle East such as the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
LeT has been financially and logistically assisted by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) over the years.
Origins
LeT is the militant wing of the well-known Ahle-Haith group Markaz-ad-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI). MDI is a fundamentalist religious missionary and charity organization formed in 1986. The group has rallied around the cause of unifying Kashmir with Pakistan, and has focused on recruiting Pakistanis who share this goal.
LeT was the first of many Pakistani groups to train at Taliban-controlled camps in Afghanistan during the 1990s. Its cadres fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance forces.
LeT began carrying out operations in Indian-controlled Kashmir in the 1990s. It has actively infiltrated Kashmir and Jammu from Pakistan to carry out sabotage activities. This has been done with the help of the ISI and the Pakistan Army. LeT did not however restrict its operations to Kashmir, the group also carried out multiple attacks in major urban centers of India, such as the October 29, 2005 bomb attacks across New Delhi. The group also carried out the November 26, 2008 attack in Mumbai which killed 166 people.
Major Attacks:
December 13, 2001: Attack on the Parliament House building in New Delhi. Five attackers, six police officials and one civilian killed. (12 killed)
October 28, 2005: Attack on the Indian Institute of Science campus in Bangalore. (1 killed)
October 29, 2005: A series of three coordinated bomb attacks across markets in New Delhi (62 killed, 100+ wounded)
March 7, 2006: Attack in Varanasi (21 killed, 62 wounded)
July 11, 2006: Attack on Mumbai commuter trains (180 killed)
November 26, 2008: Coordinated bombing and shooting attacks by ten gunmen on multiple targets across Mumbai city, including the Taj Mahal hotel. Only surviving gunman, Ajmal Kasab, confirms members of the group belong to LeT. (166 killed)
Ideological Roots:
LeT is a Sunni group that follows the Ahle-Haith interpretation of Islam. This interpretation is similar to Salafism and Wahabism. This includes the pursuit of Jihad and preaching religion and training along fundamentalist Islamic lines.
Unlike Deobandi groups operating in Pakistan, LeT aligns its ideological goals with the interests of the Pakistani state. It seeks to liberate Kashmir and merge it with Pakistan using violent means. The group however does not believe in attacking Muslims in its struggle against aggression and oppression.
Objectives:
LeT seeks to use its attacks strategically in order to affect geopolitical changes in South Asia. The group’s stated goal is to liberate Kashmir and merge it with Pakistan through violent struggle and terrorism.
Tactics:
The group’s main targets have been Indian state officials and buildings in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as Indian civilian targets in major urban areas. The group has demonstrated the capability to carry out large scale bombing attacks, armed assaults against civilians and military, and even maritime operations.
Updated on January 15, 2015.
