Pakistan Vows To Rebuild LeT Terror Hub Muridke Struck By India In Operation Sindoor
Islamabad had claimed that it was a mosque and an educational complex that were hit in the strikes at Muridke, located at about 40 kms from Lahore.
The Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistani government has reportedly vowed to rebuild the mosques and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) headquarters in the Muridke area —one of the nine terror bases hit by India during Operation Sindoor.
The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, a political wing of the banned JuD and a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), on Saturday said that the government has assured them Muridke would be developed at its own expense, reported news agency PTI.
Earlier this week, Pakistan's federal minister Rana Tanveer Hussain had visited Muridke and said that the Pakistani government has pledged to rebuild the area at its own expense.
'Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief General Asim Munir will personally finance the reconstruction of a mosque damaged in the operation," he had said as reported by India Today.
On May 7, India launched Operation Sindoor and struck nine terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) including the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) stronghold of Bahawalpur and the LeT's base at Muridke, the two terrorist organisations responsible for major attacks on Indian soil, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
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Islamabad had claimed that it was a mosque and an educational complex that were hit in the strikes at Muridke, located at about 40 kms from Lahore.
Called the Markaz-e-Toiba, the LeT headquarters operates under the facade of a charitable organisation, JuD. The Markaz complex, like the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Bahawalpur, is the nerve centre of the LeT.
India has maintained that it targeted terrorists, saying more than 100 were killed, resisting civilian casualties.
Meanwhile, the IMF in its board meeting in Washington on May 9 had cleared a USD one billion tranche for Pakistan as part of its USD 7-billion funding programme for the country.
In his address to air warriors at Gujarat's Bhuj Air Force station this week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said Pakistan has again started trying to rebuild the terror infrastructure destroyed by India last week. Islamabad will 'spend the money collected from the common citizens of Pakistan to pay around Rs 14 crore to Masood Azhar, the head of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad" and a UN designated terrorist.
Operation Sindoor came after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack claimed the lives of 26 people. The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, had claimed responsibility for the massacre in Jammu and Kashmir.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Lahore, Pakistan
First Published:
May 17, 2025, 20:04 IST
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