Who is Lashkar-e-Taiba, Does Pakistan Support Them?

India has launched missile strikes on what it calls “terrorist bases” in Pakistan in retaliation for last month’s attack in Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Kashmir. This has brought back into discussion India’s allegations that Pakistan provides assistance to armed groups involved in attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba.

What is Lashkar-e-Taiba?

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a long-standing armed organization. It was established in Pakistan in 1986 and is considered a “terrorist organization” by many countries. New Delhi blamed this organization for the 2008 Mumbai attacks in India. 166 people were killed in the attacks, including foreign nationals.

LeT was established as the military wing of Markaz Dawat-ul Irshad, a propaganda and religious education center. Lashkar-e-Taiba was formed as part of then-Pakistani ruler Zia-ul-Haq’s “Islamization” policy. The goal was to transform Pakistan into a center of global Islamic politics.

Lashkar-e-Taiba promotes the philosophy of a worldwide Islamic caliphate, where both propaganda and armed struggle are emphasized for the goal of reclaiming “lost” Islamic lands.

According to the UN Security Council, LeT has carried out numerous attacks since 1993, including the 2006 local train bombings in Mumbai and the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament.

“LeT chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was arrested in 2019. He was sentenced to 31 years in prison in Pakistan on charges of financing terrorism. The organization has long claimed that their struggle is not limited to Kashmir. Their goal extends to the breakup of India. LeT’s strong anti-Semitism was also revealed through an attack on a Jewish center during the Mumbai attacks.”

Although LeT has conducted most of its activities in the disputed Kashmir region due to its India-related issues, their hostility is not limited there but extends throughout India.

LeT chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was arrested in 2019. He was sentenced to 31 years in prison in Pakistan on charges of financing terrorism. The organization has long claimed that their struggle is not limited to Kashmir. Their goal extends to the breakup of India. LeT’s strong anti-Semitism was also revealed through an attack on a Jewish center during the Mumbai attacks.

What is Jaish-e-Mohammed?

Maulana Masood Azhar established the organization called Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) after his release from an Indian prison in 1999. Pakistan banned the organization in 2002 because it was accused, along with LeT, of the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. According to the UN Security Council, the organization had links with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Does Pakistan support Lashkar-e-Taiba and other armed groups?

Pakistan’s relationship with LeT and other Islamist armed organizations, especially the country’s military and intelligence agency ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), is complex and largely unclear.

Previously, Islamabad supported armed Islamist organizations as proxy fighters in Indian-controlled Kashmir and Afghanistan, but currently, this relationship has become quite ambiguous.

Looking at history, Pakistan considered supporting such armed organizations a strategic success in the 1980s and 1990s, especially in the context of forcing Soviet forces out of Afghanistan.

In a 2012 article in the “Carnegie Endowment for Peace,” international security analyst Ashley Tellis wrote, “From the beginning, LeT enjoyed Pakistan’s trust, because both the war in Afghanistan and the struggle against India aligned with the Pakistani military’s strategic objectives. The Pakistani military’s goal is to keep Afghanistan under control in the west and keep India under pressure in the east. For more than two decades, ISI has maintained a strong relationship with LeT, albeit secretly, and provided funding and military training as needed.”

The LeT chief has denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks. However, David Headley, an American-Pakistani citizen and LeT member who visited the site before the attacks, admitted that he coordinated with Pakistani intelligence officials regarding the Mumbai attacks.

However, it is unclear how much official sponsorship was involved in that attack. There is doubt about whether LeT acted completely independently or received permission, even if to a limited extent.

Although Pakistan firmly denies India’s claims, its tolerance towards organizations associated with LeT, such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa resurfacing as LeT’s charitable organization, casts doubt on Pakistan’s commitments and denials.

“There is disagreement among experts about the level of Pakistan’s formal support for both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Some say that recent instability may have led some members of the country’s military and ISI to become more actively involved with such armed organizations. This has been seen previously when state security institutions felt threatened during times of political instability.”

The Australian government has said that Lashkar-e-Taiba operated under the name “Jamaat-ud-Dawa.” Jamaat-ud-Dawa was established through Hafiz Saeed as a charitable organization just before Pakistan banned LeT in 2002.

In 2018, on the tenth anniversary of the Mumbai attacks, Stephen Tankel of the “Center for a New American Security” said that Pakistan shows an external division between LeT and JuD. But the United States and the United Nations consider them the same “terrorist” organization.

Current situation

There is disagreement among experts about the level of Pakistan’s formal support for both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Some say that recent instability may have led some members of the country’s military and ISI to become more actively involved with such armed organizations. This has been seen previously when state security institutions felt threatened during times of political instability.

However, Tankel points to a more complex and long-term trend. He says, “Observers who closely monitor Pakistan have acknowledged that Lashkar-e-Taiba not only refrains from carrying out attacks within Pakistan but also works against groups that take positions against the state.”

This expert further states, “Lashkar-e-Taiba has helped gather intelligence against Balochistan separatists and other militants, and sometimes even helped eliminate them. The organization has even acted as an ideological and theological opponent against anti-state forces.”