Operation Sindoor: Terror sites targeted by Indian forces “linked” to banned outfits such as JeM, LeT, and Hizbul Mujahideen

Local people gather near parts of an unknown jet that crashed after midnight, at Wuyan, Pampore, in Pulwama district, J&K, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. In retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base Muridke, under ‘Operation Sindoor’.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The terror camps said to have been targeted by the Indian defence forces at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) are linked to various banned outfits, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hizbul Mujahideen, according to probe agencies.

The Indian Armed Forces on Wednesday (May 7, 2025) launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

JeM

As per the agencies, JeM has its terrorist recruitment and training base in Bahawalpur (Pakistan), which was set up soon after its formation in March 2000 by Masood Azhar, months after he was released by India along with two others in exchange for the passengers and crew of IC-814 flight hijacked on December 24, 1999.

The outfit has masterminded a series of attacks in India, including Jammu and Kashmir Assembly car blast in October 2001; Parliament attack in coordination with LeT on December 13, 2001; Pathankot airbase attack in January 2016; and Pulwama suicide bombing on February 14, 2019, in which at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed, prompting the Indian forces to launch Balakot airstrikes 12 days later.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 Committee had listed JeM chief Masood Azhar in May 2019, while the outfit was sanctioned way back in 2001. On May 1, 2019, the US Department of State had welcomed the move and noted that he “has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks and is a serious threat to regional stability and peace in South Asia”.

“JeM was designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2001 and has been listed by the UN since 2001. The United States also designated Azhar as an SDGT in 2010,” it had said.

LeT

Co-founded in 1987-88 by Hafiz Saeed, LeT has its headquarters in Muridke near Lahore (Pakistan). Its parent organisation is Markaz al Dawatul Wal Irshad, which was later renamed as Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

Apart from the Parliament attack, LeT was behind in the October 2005 Delhi series blasts in which over 60 people were killed; July-2006 Mumbai train blasts in which more than 200 people were killed; and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in November 2008 that claimed 166 lives. The outfit also masterminded the Uri army base attack killing 19 soldiers in September 2016, the agencies found.

In May 2005, the UNSC 1267 Committee had sanctioned LeT on the charge that it had connections with Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Al-Qaida, and associated entities. Hafiz Saeed was listed on December 10, 2008, along with several other key LeT terrorists.

The US, on November 24, 2017, had expressed deep concern that Hafiz Saeed was released from house arrest in Pakistan. “LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens. The Pakistani government should make sure that he is arrested and charged for his crimes,” it said.

In May 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury had designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

Hizbul Mujahideen

Terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, which has had its headquarters in PoJK’s Muzaffarabad, was founded in 1989 by Muhammad Ahsan Dar and its current chief is Syed Salahuddin. It mainly operates in Jammu and Kashmir and was very active in 1990s. Its “commander” Burhan Wani was killed in South Kashmir during an encounter with the security forces in 2016. Muzaffarabad also acts a “launching pad” for terrorists against India, as per the agencies.