Washington, March 3: A alarming shift in terrorist tactics has emerged from Pakistan, where Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is now forging a dedicated maritime wing. This development, detailed in a fresh report by the US-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), signals a potent new danger to regional security in the Indian subcontinent.
LeT has overhauled its training regimen to incorporate sophisticated naval combat skills. Recruits aged 15 to 35 undergo intensive 20-to-40-day courses covering swimming, scuba diving, water rescue operations, motorboat handling, and underwater maneuvers. Publicly branded as disaster management workshops, these sessions are run through LeT front organizations like the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) and Pakistan Muslim Youth League (MYL).
The programs kick off with religious indoctrination, gradually steering participants toward radical ideologies. Top performers advance to weapons training and guerrilla warfare, primed for jihadist operations against India. Security analysts warn this mirrors the sea infiltration tactics used in the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, where attackers slipped in via Pakistani waters to strike high-value targets.
MEMRI highlights videos of LeT commander Haris Darr training militants and another leader openly acknowledging the naval unit’s creation. These clips serve as brazen recruitment tools and proof of active terror prep. Training hubs dot Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, from Islamabad and Lahore to Karachi, Mangla Dam, and Muzaffarabad, reportedly overseen by Pakistan Navy elements and LeT seniors Rizwan Hanif and Amir Jiya.
This maritime escalation demands urgent vigilance. As LeT hones skills for swift, multi-site sea assaults, India and neighbors must bolster coastal defenses and intelligence sharing to counter this evolving peril. The report underscores how terror groups exploit public facades to build lethal capabilities, threatening stability across the region.