A senior operative of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has claimed in a video that an unknown assassin has killed over 30 members of the banned organisation across Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK) over the last three to four years. The speaker in the social media video has been identified as Rizwan Hanif, a wanted senior terrorist whose identity and video authenticity have been verified by Indian security agencies, NDTV reported.
"30 of our people killed by Indian agenta"
"Over the past three to four years, more than 30 of our people have been killed by Indian intelligence agents," Hanif said while addressing a public gathering.
According to Hanif, these targeted killings took place in multiple locations, including Peshawar, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Rawalakot, and Muzaffarabad. This video marks the first time a LeT-linked operative has publicly acknowledged these “mysterious” deaths within Pakistan. While Hanif accused Indian security agencies of orchestrating the killings, India has rejected the allegation.
"Unable to live in peace and tranquillity in PoK"
The top terrorist claimed that operatives of the outfit had been unable to live "in peace and tranquillity" in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) because of the killing spree.
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Throughout the video, Hanif also used offensive language against the Hindu religion, illustrating how extremist organisations exploit religious sentiments to incite hatred and push individuals toward radicalisation.
How did Pakistan use Lashkar-e-Taiba as a tool to destablise India?
Lashkar-e-Taiba was founded in Pakistan in the late 1980s by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zafar Iqbal, and Abdullah Azzam as the armed wing of Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad during the Soviet-Afghan War. Following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, the group redirected its military operations toward Jammu and Kashmir. LeT gained international notoriety as the primary group behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which killed 166 people.
The United Nations sanctioned LeT in 2005 due to its connections with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Currently, India, the United States, the UN, and several other nations officially designate it as a terrorist organisation. Although Pakistan maintains that the outfit was outlawed and disbanded long ago, India and numerous Western governments have consistently alleged that the group continues to receive support from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
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