Following the lead of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen, the banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba is relocating its operational bases from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Punjab to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. Evidence, including recent intelligence reports and video footage from September 22, points to the construction of a new LeT training and staging facility, Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa, in the Koomban Maidan area of Lower Dir district. This site is strategically located just 47 kilometers from the border of Afghanistan.
Sources indicate that the construction of the new center began in July 2025, two months after Operation Sindoor. The building’s first floor is complete, and the roofing is in progress. Spanning approximately 4,600 square feet, the center is adjacent to a newly constructed Jamia Ahle Sunnat mosque, a tactic often employed by LeT to mask its activities within religious institutions.
Nasir Javed, a key figure in the 2006 Hyderabad blasts and a seasoned LeT operative, has been appointed to lead the new center. Muhammad Yasin, also known as Bilal Bhai, is in charge of ideological training, while Ansuallah Khan oversees weapons training. The camp is designed to host two main courses: Daur-e-Khas and Daur-e-Lashkar. This facility will become the new base for LeT’s Jan-e-Fida’i (suicide) unit, as the Indian Army destroyed their previous base in Bhimber-Barnala in May 2025.
Additionally, Hizbul Mujahideen has established Camp HM-313 in Lower Dir, and Jaish-e-Mohammed has expanded its presence in Mansehra. These movements are believed to be orchestrated by Pakistan’s ISI, aiming to shield the terrorist infrastructure from Indian detection. In June 2025, the Pakistani military conducted an operation against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in Lower Dir, ostensibly clearing the area for LeT and HM. The operation led to the deaths of more than 24 TTP terrorists, directly preceding LeT’s construction of the new center.
The Pakistani military and air force have portrayed these actions as counter-terrorism measures, but local accounts suggest they are intended to facilitate the activities of anti-India terrorist groups. Pakistani Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur acknowledged in August 2025 that Pakistan maintains a policy of differentiating between “good and bad terrorism.” Indian security officials maintain that despite the new LeT camp’s distance from the border, the Indian Army possesses the capacity to strike these locations if India’s security is endangered.
The Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa in Lower Dir is scheduled for completion by December 2025. This facility is intended to serve as a central hub for LeT’s recruitment and terrorist training activities, further highlighting Pakistan’s ongoing strategy of neutralizing its domestic adversaries while providing support to anti-India organizations.