LeT's Muridke Terror Hub demolished post-Indian airstrikes, reconstruction to be undertaken

The Muridke headquarters of the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Markaz Taiba, has been demolished to make way for a new structure, the fundraising for which has been undertaken. The process of demolition started in August, more than a month after the terror hub was struck by the Indian Air Force under Operation Sindoor on May 7, following a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam by Pakistan-trained terrorists.

Indian Air Force strikes obliterated a red two-story building housing accommodations and weapons, alongside two yellow structures used for training and commanders’ residences at the Markaz. While the demolition was completed last week, the process of clearing the debris is underway currently. The aim of the LeT, a UN-listed terror group, is to build a new structure by February 5, 2026, coinciding with the Pakistani government's mark as the so-called "Kashmir Solidarity Day". Remember, last year it was on this occasion that Hamas operatives were seen in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, alongside Pakistani terror groups.

The demolition, overseen by Maulana Abu Zar, director at Markaz Taiba, and Yunus Shah Bukhari, a LeT commander, signals a calculated effort to erase evidence of the strikes while laying the groundwork for a rebuilt terror hub. Post-strike, LeT operatives were temporarily relocated to Markaz Aqsa in Bahawalpur. By July, training and accommodations shifted to Markaz Yarmouk in Kasur district, under Abdul Rashid Mohsin, a close aide to LeT deputy chief Saifullah Kasuri. The Pakistani government has allocated 40 million Pakistani rupees for Markaz Taiba’s reconstruction, though the terror group LeT estimates a need for 150 million rupees.

Intel assessments have emerged that terror groups are now going for fundraising under the garb of flood relief, with an online fundraising campaign from LeT’s Khidmat e Khalaq. Funds are expected to be funneled into rebuilding Muridke and other camps damaged in Operation Sindoor. This tactic is not new. In 2005, after a devastating earthquake in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, LeT, operating as Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s Falah e Insaniyat, posed as a humanitarian outfit, raising billions in donations. Investigations later revealed 80 percent of those funds were diverted to terror infrastructure, including the construction of Markaz Abbas in Kotli, itself destroyed in India’s May 2025 strikes.

The new insights, from rebuilding the terror hub in Muridke, to fundraising, come even as India continues to highlight its concerns over cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. With reconstruction of Markaz Taiba being the top priority of the LeT, and support it has got from the Pakistani government, worries remain in Delhi over Rawalpindi’s active role in supporting terror attacks in India. India has previously declared that, in the event of future terror attacks, it will not differentiate between the Pakistani government and terrorist organizations, given the support given to the terror groups in the country.