Executive Summary:

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), meaning “Army of the Pure,” is a violent Islamist group based in Pakistan.“Lashkar-e Taiba,” American Foreign Policy Council’s World Almanac of Islamism, April 11, 2018, http://almanac.afpc.org/lashkar-e-taiba. Since its formation in the 1990s, LeT has carried out numerous attacks against military and civilian targets in India, particularly within the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.“Lashkar-e-Taiba,” South Asian Terrorism Portal, accessed December 4, 2018, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/lashkar_e_toiba.htm. The group received significant international attention for its alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which claimed the lives of 166 individuals and injured more than 300 others.Stephen Tankel, “Ten Years After Mumbai, The Group Responsible Is Deadlier Than Ever,” War on the Rocks, November 26, 2018, https://warontherocks.com/2018/11/ten-years-after-mumbai-the-group-responsible-is-deadlier-than-ever/; Shanthie Mariet D’Souza, “Mumbai terrorist attacks of 2008,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, November 19, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/event/Mumbai-terrorist-attacks-of-2008.

LeT finds its roots in the Pakistani Islamist group Markaz-ad-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), which was founded in 1989 by Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden’s religious mentor.“Lashkar-e Taiba,” American Foreign Policy Council’s World Almanac of Islamism, April 11, 2018, http://almanac.afpc.org/lashkar-e-taiba; Jayshree Bajoria, “Profile: Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure) (a.k.a. Lashkar e-Tayyiba, Lashkar e-Toiba; Lashkar-i-Taiba),” Washington Post, December 5, 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120501582.html. In the early 1990s, MDI militants—who had fought alongside the Taliban at the end of the Soviet-Afghan War—shifted the focus of their operations to Jammu and Kashmir and established LeT.Animesh Roul, “Jamaat-ud Daawa: Into the Mainstream,” CTC Sentinel, 8, 4 (April 2015): p. 23, https://ctc.usma.edu/app/uploads/2015/04/CTCSentinel-Vol8Issue48.pdf. According to a LeT pamphlet, the group’s activities in Jammu and Kashmir are part of a broader goal to re-establish Islamic rule in India and other historically “Muslim lands”: “all of India […] were part of the Muslim empire that was lost because Muslims gave up jihad…. it is our duty to get these back from the unbelievers.”Cited in Rashad Ali and Hannah Stuart, “A Guide to Refuting Jihadism: Critiquing radical Islamist claims to theological authenticity,” Henry Jackson Society, January 2014, p. 26, http://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Refuting-Jihadism.pdf. LeT has targeted Indian security forces, political leaders, and other state symbols in fidayeen attacks, direct assaults carried out by two-to-four well-armed militants. The group has also carried out a number of massacres targeting Hindus, Sikhs, and other ethnic and religious minorities in Jammu and Kashmir.“Lashkar-e Taiba,” American Foreign Policy Council’s World Almanac of Islamism, April 11, 2018, http://almanac.afpc.org/lashkar-e-taiba.

After receiving serious pressure from the U.S. government to crack down on jihadist groups operating within its borders in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan officially banned LeT in January 2002.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba; Ashley J. Tellis, “The Menace That Is Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2012, http://carnegieendowment.org/files/LeT_menace.pdf. However, members of LeT quickly reappeared as part of a new entity known as Jamaa-ul-Dawa (JuD). Due to a perception that the group could be of continuing use to Pakistan, which has long disputed India’s control over Jammu and Kashmir, LeT has reportedly been given ongoing clandestine support by elements of the Pakistani military and intelligence services.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba; Stephen Tankel, “Ten Years After Mumbai, The Group Responsible Is Deadlier Than Ever,” War on the Rocks, November 26, 2018, https://warontherocks.com/2018/11/ten-years-after-mumbai-the-group-responsible-is-deadlier-than-ever/.

JuD and other above-ground LeT-front organizations provide extensive social welfare, medical, and educational services in Pakistan. Through such activities, LeT has expanded its support base in Pakistan and raised funds for its paramilitary operations.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba. LeT is also reportedly attempting to progress its goals in Jammu and Kashmir through Pakistan’s political system. The group is believed to be behind the Milli Muslim League Pakistani political party, which was established in August 2017.Madeeha Anwar, “US Designates Pakistani Party Milli Muslim League as ‘Terrorists’,” Voice of America, April 3, 2018, https://www.voanews.com/a/us-designates-pakistan-party-milli-muslim-league-terrorists/4331538.html.

Although Jammu and Kashmir remains the primary operational focus of LeT, the group has become increasingly involved in the global jihadist movement. In the years following the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, LeT reportedly provided refuge and training to al-Qaeda members in Pakistan, as well as fighters and weapons to the Afghan front.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba; Stephen Tankel, “Lankshar-e-Taiba: From 9/11 to Mumbai,” The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, April/May 2009, http://ps.au.dk/fileadmin/site_files/filer_statskundskab/subsites/cir/pdf-filer/Tankel_01.pdf. The group has also allegedly formed sleeper cells to carry out or aid terrorism in Australia, Europe, and possibly the United States and has ties to other terrorist groups in Central and Southeast Asia.Ashley J. Tellis, “The Menace That Is Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 5-6, March 2012, http://carnegieendowment.org/files/LeT_menace.pdf.

Doctrine:

LeT adheres to the Ahl-e-Hadith faith, a South Asian version of Salafism.Jasmin Lorch, “Trajectories of Political Salafism: Insights from the Ahle Hadith Movement in Pakistan and Bangladesh,” Middle East Institute, October 30, 2018, https://www.mei.edu/publications/trajectories-political-salafism-insights-ahle-hadith-movement-pakistan-and-bangladesh. Like al-Qaeda and other Salafist groups, LeT seeks to re-claim what it considers to be “Muslim lands.”  According to the LeT publication Why Are We Waging Jihad?, “Muslims ruled Andalusia (Spain) for 800 years but they were finished to the last man. Christians now rule (Spain) and we must wrest it back from them. All of India […] were part of the Muslim empire that was lost because Muslims gave up jihad. Palestine is occupied by the Jews. The Holy Qibla-e-Awwal (First Center of Prayer) in Jerusalem is under Jewish control. Several countries such as Bulgaria, Hungary, Cyprus, Sicily, Ethiopia, Russian Turkistan and Chinese Turkistan… were Muslim lands and it is our duty to get these back from unbelievers.”Cited in Rashad Ali and Hannah Stuart, “A Guide to Refuting Jihadism: Critiquing radical Islamist claims to theological authenticity,” Henry Jackson Society, January 2014, p. 26, http://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Refuting-Jihadism.pdf.

In addition, LeT advocates the supremacy of the ummah (the global Muslim community) over any democratic or secular nation-state.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba. Accordingly, LeT also seeks to liberate Muslim-majority countries, particularly those that surround Pakistan, that are under the dominion of non-Islamist governments.“Lashkar-e-Taiba,” South Asian Terrorism Portal, accessed December 7, 2018, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/lashkar_e_toiba.htm.

Although LeT is becoming increasingly involved with the global jihadist movement and has reportedly vowed to plant the “flag of Islam” in “Washington, Tel Aviv and New Delhi,” the group’s primary focus is on the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.“Lashkar-e-Taiba,” South Asian Terrorism Portal, accessed December 4, 2018, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/lashkar_e_toiba.htm; Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba. LeT does not support jihad in Pakistan on the basis that, because the country’s national religion is Islam, it has “professed Faith.”“Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba. Rather, the group focuses on promoting its interpretation of Ahl-e-Hadith in Pakistan through dawa (Islamic missionary work).Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba; Stephen Tankel, “Ten Years After Mumbai, The Group Responsible Is Deadlier Than Ever,” War on the Rocks, November 26, 2018, https://warontherocks.com/2018/11/ten-years-after-mumbai-the-group-responsible-is-deadlier-than-ever/. Unlike other Islamist groups operating in Pakistan, LeT believes that proselytizing is as strategically important as violent jihad in achieving its goals.“Lashkar-e-Taiba,” World Almanac of Islamism, October 2, 2013, last modified October 2, 2013, http://almanac.afpc.org/lashkar-e-taiba.

Organizational Structure:

LeT has developed a robust infrastructure within Pakistan. By 2000, the group had reportedly established more than 70 district offices and departments overseeing the group’s finances, dawa activities, media and propaganda, social welfare, and external affairs. The group had also established a department for the construction of mosques and madrassas, a department of education, and wings for doctors, teachers, and farmers, among other divisions.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba. According to the Southeast Asia Terrorism Portal, LeT civil operations on a national scale include “16 Islamic institutions, 135 secondary schools, an ambulance service, mobile clinics, blood banks, and several seminaries across Pakistan.”“Lashkar-e-Taiba,” South Asian Terrorism Portal, accessed December 4, 2018, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/lashkar_e_toiba.htm.

Since LeT was banned in Pakistan in 2002, the group’s domestic activities have been coordinated by numerous LeT-front organizations, including Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK), and the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF).Ashley J. Tellis, “The Menace That Is Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 2012, http://carnegieendowment.org/files/LeT_menace.pdf; Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba; “Addition of Aliases Jamaat-Ud-Dawa and Idara Khidmat-E-Khalq to the Specially Designated Global Terrorist Designation of Lashkhar-E-Tayyiba,” U.S. Department of State, April 28, 2006, http://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/65401.htm; “Secretary of State’s Terrorist Designation of Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation,” U.S. Department of State, November 24, 2010, https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/266648.htm. LeT’s emir, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is also believed to be behind the Milli Muslim League Pakistani political party, which was established in August 2017.Madeeha Anwar, “US Designates Pakistani Party Milli Muslim League as ‘Terrorists’,” Voice of America, April 3, 2018, https://www.voanews.com/a/us-designates-pakistan-party-milli-muslim-league-terrorists/4331538.html.

Financing:

Through providing social welfare, educational, and medical services within Pakistan, LeT has expanded its support base within Pakistan. LeT funds such activities via donation boxes placed in shops throughout the country. In addition, LeT collects ushr, an Islamic land tax that requires farmers to donate 10 percent of their crops or income to charity.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba; Syed Manzar Abbas Zaidi, “Profiling the Lashkar-e-Taiba,” South Asian Survey 16, no. 2 (2009): 331, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.841.1472&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

LeT generates revenue through the group’s “legitimate” businesses, which include fish farms, agricultural tracts, and mobile clinics.Geoffrey Kambere et al., “The Financing of Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Combating Terrorism Exchange 1, no. 1 (2011), https://globalecco.org/ctx-v1n1/lashkar-e-taiba. LeT also raises funds through charging tuition fees for its schools and through selling jihadist material and other goods. A former LeT member revealed in an interview that sometimes LeT-affiliated merchants will ask buyers to pay an additional 5 to 10 Pakistani rupees “for the jihad.”Syed Manzar Abbas Zaidi, “Profiling the Lashkar-e-Taiba,” South Asian Survey 16, no. 2 (2009): 331, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.841.1472&rep=rep1&type=pdf; Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba.

LeT has also utilized its international connections to solicit funds. The group has reportedly received donations from members of the Pakistani diaspora in Europe and the Persian Gulf and from clerics and other Saudi-based individuals who support the global jihadist movement.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba. Through JuD, IKK, and other LeT-front organizations, the group has also collected donations abroad for disaster relief and other humanitarian purposes within Pakistan. The group has been known to divert money donated for charitable causes to fund its militant activities. Most notably, LeT is believed to have funneled money collected to support victims of a devastating 2005 earthquake in Pakistan to the individuals behind a failed plot to blow up a transatlantic flight in 2006.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba.

Recruitment:

Findings from a study conducted by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point indicate that the majority of LeT recruits are young, Pakistani males with higher than average levels of secular education.Don Rassler et al., “The Fighters of Lashkar-e-Taiba: Recruitment, Training, Deployment and Death,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, April 2013, https://ctc.usma.edu/app/uploads/2014/07/Fighters-of-LeT_Final.pdf. LeT has attracted new recruits through fostering an anti-corruption image. This is significant in Pakistan, where corruption is endemic throughout the country’s civil and political structures. For other recruits, LeT’s mission to alleviate Muslim suffering gives them a sense of purpose that they would not otherwise have.Sebastian Rotella, “A Terror Group That Recruits From Pakistan’s ‘Best and Brightest,’” Atlantic, April 4, 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/a-terror-group-that-recruits-from-pakistans-best-and-brightest/274682/.

LeT recruits heavily in Pakistan’s Punjab province, particularly within the districts of Gujranwala, Faisalabad, and Lahore, where the group spreads its message in mosques and madrassas.Don Rassler et al., “The Fighters of Lashkar-e-Taiba: Recruitment, Training, Deployment and Death,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, April 2013, https://ctc.usma.edu/app/uploads/2014/07/Fighters-of-LeT_Final.pdf. New recruits are also reportedly brought into the organization through familial and friendship ties with current LeT members.Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar-e-Taiba: Past Operations and Future Prospects,” New America Foundation, April 2011, https://www.newamerica.org/documents/891/lashkar-e-taiba.

LeT is able to reach a broader audience through the group’s website and through an online magazine called “Wyeth.”Rajesh Ahuja, “LeT launches online magazine, says 2018 will be tough for security forces,” Hindustan Times, June 23, 2018, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/let-launches-online-magazine-says-2018-will-be-tough-for-security-forces/story-TbXeaW5jh15GYqsRNikjdL.html. The group also has a number of print publications, including Al-Dawa (a monthly journal), Gazwa (an Urdu weekly), and the Voice of Islam (an English monthly).“Lashkar-e-Taiba,” South Asian Terrorism Portal, accessed December 4, 2018, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/lashkar_e_toiba.htm.

Training:

A study by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point—which used biographical information about LeT members published between 1994 and 2007—found that 47 percent of LeT members had been trained in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, and 28 percent had been trained in Afghanistan.Don Rassler et al., “The Fighters of Lashkar-e-Taiba: Recruitment, Training, Deployment and Death,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, April 4, 2013, https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-fighters-of-lashkar-e-taiba-recruitment-training-deployment-and-death. Most LeT fighters undergo a three-phase training program. During the first phase, called Daura-e-Aama, recruits develop running, climbing, and other basic skills.Stephen Tankel, “Storming the World Stage,” Storming the World Stage: The Story of Lashkar-e-Taiba, (Columbia University Press, 2011), pp. 2017-221, accessed November 30, 2018 via https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/storming-world-stage-story-lashkar-e-taiba. The second phase is called Daura-e-Suffa and provides religious training.Geoffrey Kambere et al., “The Financing of Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Global ECCO, accessed July 10, 2015, https://globalecco.org/ctx-v1n1/lashkar-e-taiba.The third phase, Daura-e-Khasa, provides specialty training in guerilla warfare.Geoffrey Kambere et al., “The Financing of Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Combating Terrorism Exchange 1, no. 1 (2011): 35, http://www.nps.edu/Academics/Schools/GSOIS/Departments/DA/Documents/CTX%20Vol.%201%20No.%201.pdf. Other specialized training covers maritime operations, espionage, and sabotage.Geoffrey Kambere et al., “The Financing of Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Global ECCO, accessed July 10, 2015, https://globalecco.org/ctx-v1n1/lashkar-e-taiba.

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