The LT is the armed wing of the Pakistan-based religious organization,Markaz-ud- Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI)�a Sunni anti-US missionary organizationformed in 1989. The LT is led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and is one of thethree-largest and besttrained groups fighting in Kashmir against India; it is notconnected to a political party. The United States in October 2001 announcedthe addition of the LT to the US Treasury Department�s Office of ForeignAsset Control (OFAC) list�which includes organizations that are believed tosupport terrorist groups and have assets in US jurisdiction that can be frozenor controlled. The group was banned, and the Pakistani Government froze itsassets in January 2002. The LT is also known by the name of its associatedorganization, Jamaat ud-Dawa (JUD). Musharraf placed JUD on a watchlist inNovember 2003.
Activities
The LT has conducted a number of operations against Indian troops andcivilian targets in Jammu and Kashmir since 1993. The LT claimedresponsibility for numerous attacks in 2001, including an attack in January onSrinagar airport that killed five Indians along with six militants; an attack on apolice station in Srinagar that killed at least eight officers and wounded severalothers; and an attack in April against Indian border-security forces that left atleast four dead. The Indian Government publicly implicated the LT�along withJEM�for the attack on 13 December 2001 on the Indian Parliament building,although concrete evidence is lacking. The LT is also suspected ofinvolvement in the attack on 14 May 2002 on an Indian Army base in Kaluchakthat left 36 dead. Senior al-Qaida lieutenant Abu Zubaydah was captured at anLT safehouse in Faisalabad in March 2002, suggesting some members arefacilitating the movement of al-Qaida members in Pakistan.
Strength
Has several thousand members in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and in southernJammu and Kashmir and Doda regions and in the Kashmir valley. Almost allLT cadres are Pakistanis from madrassas across Pakistan and Afghanveterans of the Afghan wars. Uses assault rifles, light and heavymachineguns, mortars, explosives, and rocket-propelled grenades.
Location/Area of Operation
Based in Muridke (near Lahore) and Muzaffarabad.
External Aid
Collects donations from the Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf andUnited Kingdom, Islamic NGOs, and Pakistani and other Kashmiri businesspeople. The LT also maintains a Web site (under the name of its associatedorganization Jamaat ud-Daawa), through which it solicits funds and providesinformation on the group�s activities. The amount of LT funding is unknown.The LT maintains ties to religious/ military groups around the world, rangingfrom the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya through the fraternalnetwork of its parent organization Jamaat ud-Dawa (formerly Markaz Dawaul-Irshad). In anticipation of asset seizures by the Pakistani Government, theLT withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses,such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods.