New Delhi: The Lashkar-e-Taiba is heading for a major split, and the situation in Pakistan could get more chaotic, Indian Intelligence agencies have learnt. For years, the Lashkar has remained Pakistan’s favourite proxy, and never has there been a rebellion within the outfit.
Moreover, the outfit has always towed the ISI’s line and never diverted from what it had been told. An Intelligence Bureau official said that problems have started to arise, and some of the top leaders are expressing discontentment over a few decisions that the outfit has had to take in recent months.
The official added that Operation Sindoor was the tipping point during which the outfit lost a considerable amount of infrastructure. Since then, the regrouping has been hard and many even lost faith in the ISI and Pakistan Army as they felt that they were not protected well enough.
The ISI did manage to iron out differences, and the regrouping process had begun. However, the decisions taken by the army and ISI to engage the Lashkar-e-Taiba against the Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Nationalist Army (BLA) have not gone down well at all with a large majority of the operatives.
Officials said that the cadres feel that the establishment is catering too much to both the Chinese and Western needs. Both China and the United States are interested in the rare earth present in Balochistan. Both the TTP and BLA are battling hard against the Pakistan Army in both Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Since the army is unable to handle these outfits, it decided to bring in the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and align it with the Lashkar-e-Taiba to battle the TTP and BLA.
The Lashkar’s leadership has started asking questions about the need to battle their own people so that the Chinese and Western interests are protected. Further, the outfit does not naturally ally with the ISKP, as they are considered to be enemies of the Afghan Taliban.
The Lashkar-e-Taiba has been very vocal about its support for the Taliban, and now that the Pakistan Army is fighting the group in Afghanistan has further angered the Lashkar’s leadership, officials add.
Pakistan watchers said that the discontent is becoming increasingly visible. Earlier, it was hush-hush, but today it is out in the open. They feel that the establishment is expecting too much out of them.
The leadership is unable to explain to its cadres why they are battling their own people. The cadres are of the view that all of them must stand united and battle only India and the Western forces.
Recently, a video of Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Mohammad Ashfaq Rana went viral in which he is seen criticising the establishment. He says that they have been taken advantage of by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Rana says in the video that the establishment has, on one hand, failed to protect them and, on the other, it has ruined the nation. He speaks about the debt-ridden country and adds that even if half the borrowed money had been utilised without being siphoned off, the country would have been a prosperous one.
Officials said that all these recent developments are a sign that there is a major rift between the outfit’s certain members and the establishment.
They also added that the very fact that Hafiz Saeed is hardly seen in public is a sign that all is not well. It would be extremely dangerous if the Lashkar-e-Taiba continues to openly rebel against the establishment.
The outfit has very dedicated cadres, and cases of them rebelling in the past are close to nil. If these persons come out and join outfits such as the TTP, then the Pakistan establishment is in for a major setback.
If violence in Pakistan continues to increase and terror groups start acting on their own, then it also poses a major security risk to the region, another official said. He also added that if this happens within the Lashkar-e-Taiba, then it would not be too long if one witnessed similar development in the Jaish-e-Mohammad too.
(IANS)
