The new face of Lashkar: Talha Saeed as boss, grooming white-collar and child recruits

New Delhi, Dec 22 The Lashkar-e-Tayiba, responsible for the Mumbai 26/11 attacks, was hit hard during Operation Sindoor. Since the operation that was carried out to avenge the Pahalgam attacks, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has tried several times to bounce back, but has not been entirely successful.

The outfit has decided to infuse fresh blood and go back to the basics. The first visible change is in the leadership, with most operations today headed by Talha Saeed, the son of Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief Hafiz Saeed. While Hafiz Saeed is kept in the loop relating to all activities, it is Talha who is calling the shots, an Intelligence Bureau official said.

Talha has fresh ideas for the outfit and has instructed his men to recruit educated persons only. Intelligence agencies have learnt that Talha is more interested in having white-collar cadres in bigger numbers when compared to the conventional mujahideens.

If one looks at the latest recruitments that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has made in recent months, it becomes clear that Talha is chasing the educated lot. The target audience comprises doctors, engineers and teachers. The outfit now feels that there is a need to have educated cadres, as they bring with them knowledge and can also provide fresher ideas.

Under Talha Saeed, the power of social media is also being used on a very large scale. He feels that propaganda is a very important tool, and hence the social media must be used heavily to spread the same. Under Hafiz Saeed, there were several dedicated terrorists. However, not all of them were in the outfit for the sake of ideology. Many went along for the money, and this is something that Talha does not want. He wants the terrorists he recruits to be ideologically charged and feels that they must be part of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba only if they believe in the cause.

Experts say that if Talha can achieve what he wishes, then the Lashkar-e-Tayiba will only get more dangerous. He is looking at white-collar terrorists, and this itself is a dangerous precedent. Over the years, outfits such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have leaned more towards the educated lot.

Under Talha Saeed, several camps have been set up and the emphasis is more on the online classes. After Operation Sindoor, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has deliberately avoided having classes in the open. It has moved to the online module largely as it wants to avoid detection by the Indian armed forces.

In the process of rebuilding a strong terrorist group, Talha also places heavy emphasis on politics. He is strengthening the cadre who are part of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), the political outfit of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Talha is of the firm view that they should remain politically strong too, so that there is acceptance by the public. Moreover, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba had hidden behind a strong political outfit, while continuing with its terror acts, officials say.

Talha also believes that the recruitment of adults alone is not enough. He has ensured that multiple classes are introduced to bring in children as well. The plan is to recruit young boys and girls and then radicalise them at a very young age. For the children, the classes mainly emphasise the Quran for a couple of years. The next step involves radicalisation, following which they would be recruited into the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. In the next phase, the same persons would be imparted arms training and then made battle-ready.

Those who are brought in at a very young age would be examined following their training programme. Not all of them will be inducted into the terror network. Based on their skill set, some would be taken into the political outfit. The Lashkar-e-Tayiba is also creating several student wings so that they could infiltrate universities, similar to the lines of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh, officials say.

Another official said that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba is looking to rebrand itself, and Talha Saeed is in for a long haul, whereby he manages to change the terror landscape in a very big way.

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