New Delhi: The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is planning to radicalise youth as well as minors in Bangladesh to carry out terror strikes in India, intelligence agencies have warned.
LeT chief and UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed is seriously exploring the possibility of creating an operational hub in Bangladesh, it has now been revealed. Saeed has an axe to grind against India since missile strikes during Operation Sindoor caused major destruction to the outfit’s headquarters in Muridke, killing several terrorists, including his relatives.
A video of a rally held in Khairpur Tamewali, Pakistan, has shown senior LeT commander Saifullah Saif as saying that “Hafiz Saeed is not sitting idle. He is preparing to attack India through Bangladesh.”
Saif also boasted that LeT operatives are already active in what he referred to as “East Pakistan” and claimed they are gearing up to give a befitting reply to India for Operation Sindoor.
Incidentally, Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, chief of Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) had also said that his country would retaliate against India from the east. The links between outfits like the LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) with the Pakistan Army are well known.
According to intelligence agencies, Saeed has dispatched a close aide to Bangladesh to radicalise local youth to carry out terror strikes across the country’s border with India in the name of “jihad”.
In the video, Saif praises the Pakistani military, falsely claiming it had retaliated following what he called “India’s Operation Sindoor” on the night of May 9-10. He went o to declare a supposed realignment of global loyalties, saying: “Now, America is with us, and Bangladesh is also getting closer to Pakistan again.”
The interim government in Bangladesh under Muhammad Yunus is known to be actively supporting fundamentalist outfits in the country. Several top military officers from Pakistan have also toured Bangladesh recently.
What has caught the eye of experts in this field is the presence of children in Saif’s rally. It clearly indicates plans by the LeT to radicalise them.
“It is easier to radicalise children and make them do things. It is also much more difficult to detect the movement of children,” an official said.
