New leadership, more cadres for LeT

Following the recent crackdown on its leaders after the terror attack on Mumbai in November last year, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has undergone a major overhaul to keep the 'battle' in Kashmir raging. While new members have taken over the top leadership of the terror outfit, the LeT has appointed nearly 900 cadres to continue its offensive in Kashmir, according to sources in the Intelligence Bureau.

The arrests of top operatives Zarar Shah and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in Pakistan had dealt a severe blow to the LeT's operations. The top two leaders have now been replaced with Shahji Hyder and Huzefa, who are both Lakhvi's loyalists and LeT members for the last two decades.

The duo have been chosen to head the LeT's operations in Kashmir, where they have been waging a battle against the Indian authorities for the last ten years.

Sources say that the Inter Services Intelligence has ordered the LeT to regroup and recruit more cadres for its operations in Kashmir. The terror outfit has opened more camps in Muzzafarabad, Mirpur and Kotli to recruit and train new members.

The ISI has also directed the LeT to work in close association with the Hizbul Mujahideen that has already provided 200 terrorists for subversive operations in the valley. In a clear indication that Pakistan has not dismantled the terror infrastructure on its soil, the Hizbul continues to recruit men and then train them at its camp in Muzzafarabad, in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Sources say that as many as 800 men are being trained extensively in the 25 odd camps of the Lashkar and they are planning to infiltrate into Kashmir by the end of April.