A top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander has admitted that India’s Operation Sindoor on May 7 dealt a severe blow to the group’s headquarters in Muridke, Pakistan. The admission comes just days after Jaish-e-Mohammed commander Ilyas Kashmiri spoke of similar devastation at JeM’s Bahawalpur base and revealed that the strikes had torn apart the family of group chief Masood Azhar.In a video circulating on social media, Lashkar commander Qasim is seen standing amid the rubble of the destroyed Markaz-e-Taiba camp in Muridke. He admitted that many terrorists, whom he called “Mujahideen,” had trained at the site.The video exposes Islamabad’s denials by confirming the destruction of the Markaz-e-Taiba terror camp in Muridke, in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
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“I am standing in front of the Markaz Taiba in Muridke… It was destroyed in the attack [during Operation Sindoor]. We will be rebuilding it and making it even bigger… From here, big names in Mujahideen got trained here and achieved Faiz [Victory],” the LeT Commander said.In another video, he highlighted the significance of Markaz-e-Taiba and urged young people to join the Daura-e-Suffa program at the Muridke camp — a terror training course that combines basic combat training with religious indoctrination as part of “jihadi preparation.”Established in 2000, Markaz Taiba in Nangal Sahdan, Muridke, Sheikhupura, Punjab, Pakistan, is the primary and most significant training centre of Lashkar-e-Taiba.ANI reported, citing an agency dossier that Lashkar has started fundraising campaigns under the cover of flood relief to rebuild the destroyed Markaz-e-Taiba camp, led by Hafiz Saeed, responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.Pakistan has allocated PKR 4 crore, but the group estimates the rebuilding will cost over PKR 15 crore. Senior commanders Maulana Abu Zar and Yunus Shah Bukhari are overseeing the project, expected to finish by February 2026. Past reports show that LeT has often diverted humanitarian aid to rebuild militant infrastructure, such as after the 2005 earthquake.On April 22, a Lashkar wing carried out a terror attack on tourists in Baisaran Valley in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, killing 26 civilians. In response, India’s military targeted nine major terror hubs across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Bahawalpur headquarters and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Muridke headquarters. Each of these centers accused of harbouring anti-India terror was blown to bits by Indian armed forces.Muridke, home to Markaz-e-Taiba, was a key target. The strikes hit residential areas of senior leaders and offices where commanders planned operations. Videos released by the Indian Air Force showed the level of destruction in the complex.The strikes killed around a dozen top terrorists, including Yusuf Azhar, the IC-814 hijacker, Abu Jundal, the Muridke chief of LeT, and the son of the planner of the 2016 Nagrota attack. This operation, carried out in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack, demonstrated India’s ability to carry out precise, high-impact missions inside enemy territory.
