ABP Exclusive: Lashkar Shifts Base To Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Builds New Terror Hub Near Afghan Border

<p>Last week on ABP News, we exposed how, after Operation Sindoor, terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen are now establishing new training camps and expanding old ones in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) near the Afghan border, moving away from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Punjab in fear of future Indian strikes.</p>
<p>Now, ABP News has obtained exclusive photos and videos showing that alongside Jaish and Hizbul, Pakistan&rsquo;s state-sponsored terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is also building a new training centre in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to replace three centres destroyed in PoK and Punjab during Operation Sindoor.</p>
<h3><strong>Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa: Lashkar&rsquo;s New Nerve Centre</strong></h3>
<p>Exclusive visuals accessed by ABP News reveal that UN-designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, also known as Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, is constructing a training and residential centre named Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa in the Kumban Maidan area of Lower Dir district, roughly 47 kilometres from the Afghanistan border.</p>
<p>According to sources, construction began in July&mdash;two months after Operation Sindoor&mdash;and visuals show that the first-floor frame is already up, with work underway to lay an RCC roof.</p>
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<figcaption>Photo: Shivank Mishra</figcaption>
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<p>The site is located on vacant land directly adjacent to Lashkar&rsquo;s newly built mosque, Jamia Ahle Sunnah&mdash;a fact confirmed by satellite images.</p>
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<figcaption>Photo: Shivank Mishra</figcaption>
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<p>Responsibility for running the centre has been given to senior Lashkar commander Nasir Javed, co-mastermind of the 2006 Hyderabad blast in India. Doctrinal training will be overseen by Lashkar&rsquo;s associate Muhammad Yasin alias Bilal Bhai, while operational training has been assigned to commander Ansullah Khan, who himself trained at Lashkar&rsquo;s Garhi Habibullah camp in 2016.</p>
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<figcaption>Photo: Shivank Mishra</figcaption>
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<p>Sources add that Nasir Javed, now in charge of Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa, previously ran Lashkar&rsquo;s Dulai training camp in PoK from 2004 to 2015. He is currently linked to Lashkar&rsquo;s fundraising arm Khidmat-e-Khalq, a rebranded version of the banned Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation.</p>
<p>After completion, the new camp is expected to run two major training programmes: Daura-e-Khas and Daura-e-Lashkar.</p>
<p>Intelligence inputs suspect that on 7 May, the Indian Air Force destroyed Lashkar&rsquo;s Markaz Ahle Hadith at Bhimber-Barnala, which was known for preparing its Fidayeen squad. It now appears that Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa will serve as the replacement hub for training Lashkar&rsquo;s Fidayeen unit Jaan-e-Fidai.</p>
<h3><strong>Relocation Strategy Post-Operation Sindoor</strong></h3>
<p>Khyber Pakhtunkhwa&rsquo;s Lower Dir region has been a militant hotspot for two decades, historically hosting groups such as Al Badr and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Recently, images emerged of Hizbul Mujahideen&rsquo;s HM-313 camp being constructed in the Bandaai area of Lower Dir. Now, visuals of Lashkar&rsquo;s under-construction camp in the same district confirm a wider militant regrouping strategy.</p>
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<figcaption>Photo: Shivank Mishra</figcaption>
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<p>Sources say Lashkar has long operated training camps under the guise of mosques, and by building next to Jamia Ahle Sunnah, the group appears to be continuing that tactic&mdash;masking militant activity under a religious facade.</p>
<figure class=”image”><img src=”https://feeds.abplive.com/onecms/images/uploaded-images/2025/09/25/2f05ffc943f8c02ab36e4f5d9e649bd8175879690217725_original.JPEG” alt=”Photo: Shivank Mishra” width=”720″ />
<figcaption>Photo: Shivank Mishra</figcaption>
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<p>According to sources, Jaish, Hizbul, and Lashkar are now either jointly establishing or independently constructing camps in KPK to evade Indian surveillance. This shift, they say, appears to be scripted by Pakistan&rsquo;s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Special Operations Directorate.</p>
<p>During <a title=”Operation Sindoor” href=”https://news.abplive.com/topic/operation-sindoor” data-type=”interlinkingkeywords”>Operation Sindoor</a>, three Lashkar training camps and their Muridke headquarters were destroyed. Two camps&mdash;Gulpur Kotli and Shwai Nala&mdash;were located in PoK, while the Bhimber-Barnala training centre and Muridke headquarters were in Punjab province.</p>
<p>To compensate for these losses, Lashkar is now building Markaz Jihad-e-Aqsa on a 4,643 sq. ft. site in Lower Dir while also planning expansions of its existing camps at Garhi Habibullah and Batrasi in KPK to restart its terror recruitment, training, and accommodation programmes.</p>
<p><strong><em>(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)</em></strong></p>