OVERVIEW

Lashkar-e-Tayyiba flag

Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT), meaning Army of the Righteous or Army of the Pure, is a Pakistan-based Sunni militant group formed in the early 1990s as the military wing of a Pakistan-based Sunni fundamentalist organization established in the 1980s to oppose the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. Since its formation, LT has focused on attacking Indian targets in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir with the goal of annexing the disputed Kashmir territory to Pakistan. LT seeks to ultimately establish an Islamic caliphate throughout South Asia.

LT followers practice Ahl-e Hadith, a primarily South Asian form of Salafism that proscribes violence against other Islamic sects and advocates attacks against non-Muslims. LT is banned in Pakistan and since 2019 has faced increasing pressure from the Pakistani Government to give up arms and integrate into Pakistani society. LT militants maintain training camps, schools, and medical clinics in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. The group is funded primarily by Pakistan-based donors and charitable organizations in the Middle East, including Jamaat-ud-Dawa, LT’s charitable arm, which also provides humanitarian relief to victims of natural disasters, such as those who were affected by an earthquake in Kashmir in 2005 and floods in Pakistan in 2010.

OPERATING AREAS
Based in Pakistan, where it raises funds and recruits; conducts operations primarily in India-administered Kashmir and against Indian and Western targets in Afghanistan.

MEMBERS
Between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters

TACTICS AND TARGETS
LT fighters typically attack Indian military, government, and civilian targets using small arms, landmines, or IEDs.

FOREIGN TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US State Department designated LT a foreign terrorist organization in December 2001. Several LT leaders, including, Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Sajid Mir, and Hafiz Saeed, were named specially designated global terrorists in 2008.

KEY LEADERS

NOTABLE ATTACKS