Pakistan still ground zero of terror: Intel

Nearly a year after Operation Sindoor dismantled key terror infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, intelligence agencies indicate that JeM continues to restructure its network with renewed vigour.

Intelligence officials confirmed that despite the damage inflicted by Indian strikes, Pakistan continued to remain a hub for terror groups, with banned outfits rebuilding, regrouping and adapting their operations.

The Prime Ministers of both countries had shared the same stage at the SCO summit in Tianjin, just months after India and Pakistan were locked in hostilities. There, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country had long suffered from terrorism and was “determined to defeat” the menace. But a year after India’s Operation Sindoor, ground realities appear to tell a different story. Sources point to rapid rebuilding, fresh recruitment and expanded funding channels — raising serious concerns about Islamabad’s intent to act against such groups.

Top intelligence officials told The Tribune that classified inputs suggest elements within Pakistan’s security establishment, particularly the ISI, continue to provide logistical support, training and safe havens to outfits like JeM and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

JeM’s Bahawalpur base -- long seen as its nerve centre -- is active again. At Markaz Subhanallah, the group is reportedly running fundraising drives under the cover of religious education, sustaining a steady flow of recruits and resources.

Security agencies are particularly concerned about a new trend -- the induction of women operatives. Intelligence inputs suggest women are being used as couriers, facilitators of safe houses and local intelligence gatherers, exploiting lower suspicion levels.

The resurgence is not limited to JeM. Evidence has also emerged of LeT rebuilding its Muridke headquarters -- one of the main targets destroyed during Operation Sindoor.

In a viral video last year, a Lashkar commander openly admitted the scale of damage caused by Indian strikes while confirming that reconstruction was underway. He even claimed the new facility would be larger than before — a statement that directly contradicted Pakistan’s repeated assertion that such sites are non-operational.

As India marks one year of Operation Sindoor, the message from across the border is clear: while infrastructure can be destroyed, the ecosystem that sustains terrorism remains intact — adaptive, resilient and deeply entrenched.