New Delhi, 19 Sept

Months after India's precision strikes on nine terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), a viral video of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Qaasim has surfaced. The video exposes Islamabad's denials of the strikes by confirming the destruction of the Markaz Taiba terror camp in Muridke, in Pakistan's Punjab province.

In the viral video, Qaasim, standing amidst the rubble of the destroyed camp, admitted that the place had trained numerous terrorists, including "Mujahideens and Talaba", who he claimed went on to achieve "victory" (Faiz), while vowing to rebuild a larger facility there.

"I am standing in front of the Markaz Taiba in Muridke... It was destroyed in the attack [during Operation Sindoor]. We will be rebuilding it and making it even bigger... From here, big names in Mujahideen got trained here and achieved Faiz [Victory]," the LeT Commander said in the video.

This revelation came days after Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, in another viral video, admitted that the strikes on Markaz Subhan Allah at Bahawalpur, JeM's operation headquarters, during Operation Sindoor had killed the family of JeM Masood Azhar.

Earlier in May, sources told ANI that Mohammad Yusuf Azhar and Hafiz Muhammed Jameel, brothers-in-law of Masood Azhar and Mohammad Hassan Khan, were killed during the strikes.

Mohammad Yusuf Azhar, brother-in-law of Maulana Masood Azhar, was wanted for the IC-814 hijacking case. He also used to handle weapons training for JeM and was involved in multiple terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

The eldest brother-in-law of Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Muhammed Jameel, was another target who was in charge of Markaz Subhan Allah in Pakistan's Bahawalpur. He was actively involved in the radical indoctrination of youth and fundraising for JeM.

"After sacrificing everything, on 7 May, the family members of Masood Azhar were torn into pieces in Bahawalpur," Kashmiri said at an event in the viral video, validating India's assertion that the attack hit key terrorist elements.

The LeT commander Qaasim, in another viral clip, also brazenly urged youths to join the Daura-e-Suffa training programme at the site, which includes basic combat training and jihadi indoctrination, further exposing the camp's purpose.

Markaz Taiba, Muridke, established in the year 2000, is the 'alma mater' and the most crucial training centre of LeT in Pakistan. The complex holds arms and physical training facilities, as well as dawa'h and radicalisation for terror entities, both from within Pakistan and abroad.

Meanwhile, the Markaz Subhan Allah, Bahawalpur, which has been operational since 2015, is the main centre of JeM for training and indoctrination, serving as the operational headquarters of the organisation. It is associated with terrorist planning by JeM, including the Pulwama attack on 14 February, 2019.

The strikes on 7 May under Operation Sindoor targeted these key strongholds of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), launched in retaliation for the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives.