Operation Sindoor effect: ISI dismantles big terror bases, spreads JeM-LeT-Hizbul into small secret camps

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Following the significant damage to Pakistan's terrorist infrastructure during Operation Sindoor, the ISI has revised its strategy. Instead of a single large, centralized base, terrorist organizations like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Hizbul Mujahideen are now establishing several smaller training and operations centers in various parts of Pakistan.

According to intelligence assessments, Operation Sindoor, which targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur and a major Lashkar-e-Taiba training center in Muridke, demonstrated to Pakistan the risk of maintaining large terrorist bases in a single location. These bases were easily targeted by Indian armed forces.

Following this, the ISI, in consultation with the heads of the three terrorist organizations, formulated a new strategy. It decided to establish multiple bases in different locations across Pakistan and eliminate dependence on a single main command or training center.

According to an official, Jaish-e-Mohammed has rapidly rebuilt its headquarters in Bahawalpur, but activities there are extremely limited. The headquarters now stands only as a symbolic structure. The official said that if it had not been rebuilt, it could have further negatively impacted the morale of the already demoralized militants.

A similar situation exists with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. Following Operation Sindoor, the Lashkar training center in Muridke was also rebuilt, but intelligence intercepts indicate minimal activity there. Lashkar rapidly rebuilt the center to send a message to its militants that its old network still exists.

The Muridke center has long been a key part of LeT's anti-India activities. The terrorists who carried out the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, the 2005 Delhi bombings, and the 2000 Red Fort attack were trained at the center. Furthermore, Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists also used the center to prepare for the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. At that time, Jaish was a relatively new organization.

The ISI also helped rebuild Markaz Raheel Shaheed, a Hizbul Mujahideen training and transit center located in Kotli, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Furthermore, the Mahmoona Jaya camp in Sialkot was also renovated by Hizbul Mujahideen and the ISI.

An Intelligence Bureau (IB) official said that all intercepts related to the reconstruction indicate that these centers will be maintained primarily as symbolic facilities. Major terrorist attacks will not be planned or conducted from these centers. The ISI has directed that activities at these camps be kept to a minimum and a low profile during training.

According to the official, the purpose of the new arrangement is that even if one of the bases is destroyed in the Indian operation, the damage should be limited and activities can be continued from other camps.

The intelligence official said that bases like Bahawalpur and Muridke have long been the hallmarks of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, respectively. Attacking such key bases sends a powerful message to terrorists, potentially affecting their morale and disrupting their activities for a long time.

Under the new strategy, the three terrorist organizations will now work together. There will be no division of responsibilities among them as before, and attacks will be planned jointly. Names like Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, and Syed Salahuddin will remain limited to symbolic and ideological leadership, while the ISI will retain actual control.

According to officials, all operations and day-to-day operations of these organizations are directly monitored by Brigadier Iqbal and Colonel Owais of the ISI. Another official said that the command center of these terrorist organizations is located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), while training centers are spread across different parts of Pakistan. New training camps and operational centers have been established in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Muzaffarabad and Rawalkot.

There isn't a single large center in these cities, but rather four to five separate facilities have been developed at each location. Terrorists are trained at different levels here. According to the official, terrorists will no longer be housed at a single location for long periods of time, but will instead be continuously moved to different centers. This will give them experience in different locations, and their mobility will also make it more difficult for Indian security agencies to monitor their activities.