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‘We will rebuild even bigger’: On video, Lashkar commander admits Operation Sindoor destroyed Pak's Muridke camp
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Qaasim said, “I am standing in front of the Markaz Taiba in Muridke... It was destroyed in the attack."
A purported video claiming to feature Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Qaasim has surfaced online, exposing Pakistan’s denials of devastation in Indian strikes. The commander can be heard saying that the Markaz Taiba terror camp in Muridke, Punjab province, was destroyed during Operation Sindoor.
In the viral clip, Qaasim can be seen standing amidst the rubble of the facility, admitting its role in training terrorists. He said, “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.”
HT.com could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
The commander further claimed that the camp had produced numerous fighters, including Mujahideens and Talaba, and vowed to reconstruct it on a larger scale.
"From here, big names in Mujahideen got trained here and achieved Faiz (Victory),” Qaasim said.
The video follows an earlier confession by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, who confirmed the devastation of the Markaz Subhan Allah headquarters in Bahawalpur during the same operation. Kashmiri admitted that the attack killed the family of JeM chief Masood Azhar.
The back-to-back videos of terror group commanders reinforce India’s claim that nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were legitimate terror hubs targeted during the May 7 operation, launched in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Terror training at Mudrike
In another clip, Qaasim openly appealed to youths to join the Daura-e-Suffa programme, which offers basic combat training and jihadi indoctrination.
According to news agency ANI report, established in 2000, the Markaz Taiba complex served as LeT’s most important training centre. It hosted arms drills, physical training, and radicalisation sessions for recruits from within Pakistan and abroad.
Meanwhile, Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, operational since 2015, functioned as JeM’s main training and indoctrination hub. The camp has been linked to several terror plots, including the Pulwama attack of February 14, 2019.
(With ANI inputs)
