After Jaish and Hizbul Mujahideen, LeT shifts terror camps to Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Just a week after it came to light that terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) are shifting their terror training and accommodation centres to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) from PoK, intelligence sources have confirmed that Pakistan’s largest state-sponsored and UN-designated terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has also shifted its large operational and training infrastructure deeper into KPK.

According to intelligence inputs, the shifting, which is happening in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, is being done to avoid future Indian strikes.

Intelligence agencies have acquired videos and pictures dated September 22, confirming that LeT is constructing a new terror training and residential centre, Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa, in the Kumban Maidan area of Lower Dir district, just approximately 47 km from the Afghan border.

The construction of its new facilities began in July 2025, two months after Operation Sindoor, and imagery indicates that the first-floor frame is in place, with work under way to lay an RCC roof, as of September 22.

The facility occupies approximately 4,643 square feet of vacant land adjacent to the LeT’s recently built Jamia Ahle Sunnah mosque, reflecting LeT’s historical practice of operating training infrastructure under the cover of religious institutions to avoid scrutiny, intelligence sources said.

The command of the new centre has been entrusted to Nasr Javed, co-mastermind of the 2006 Hyderabad blast in India, who previously ran LeT’s Dulai training camp in PoK from 2004 to 2015 and currently operational with the LeT’s fundraising arm Khidmat-e-Khalq (formerly Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation banned by the UN).

Muhammad Yasin (alias Bilal Bhai) has been tasked with doctrinal instruction in Jihad, while overall operational weapon training responsibilities have been assigned to Anas Ullah Khan, who received training at LeT’s Garhi Habibullah camp in 2016, intelligence sources said.

The camp’s placement near LeT’s newly constructed and existing religious seminary Markaz Jamia Ahle Sunnah appears deliberate, providing cover for recruitment, logistical support, and the concealment of terror movement under the guise of religious activity, they informed.

As per information once operational, Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa is expected to run two primary training programmes, Daura-e-Khas and Daura-e-Lashkar, and serve as the replacement hub for LeT’s Jaan-e-Fidai Fidayeen unit, following the destruction of the Markaz Ahle Hadith facility at Bhimber-Barnala by the Indian Army on May 7, which previously specialised in Fidayeen preparation.

Due to this targetting by the Indian Army during Operation Sindoor, the LeT camp has been now shifted to Lower Dir to avoid targeting by Indian Forces in future.

However, Indian Army sources said that the Indian armed forces have the capability to hit such distant locations if there is a requirement to do so, based on any future involvement of such facilities in harming the national interests and security of the country and citizens.

The relocation and expansion of LeT, JeM and HM facilities suggest either coordinated or parallel initiatives under the guidance of Pakistan’s ISI Special Operations Directorate, to evade Indian intelligence monitoring.

In addition to Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa, as per sources, LeT is planning to expand existing camps at Markaz e Khyber Garhi Habibullah and Batrasi aiming to restore its recruitment, training, and residential operations after the destruction of its previous facilities in PoK and Punjab, including Gulpur Kotli, Shwai Nala, Bhimber-Barnala, and the Muridke headquarters.

Lower Dir has historically been a hotspot for anti-India militant activity, hosting groups such as Al-Badr but LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen had no presence here with respect to militancy pre-Operation Sindoor.

Apart from Al-Badr, historically, Lower Dir has served as a very strong operational base for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), sources informed.