Operation Sindoor effect: JeM, Hizbul Mujahideen shift bases deeper into Pakistan near Afghan border

Following India’s Operation Sindoor targeting Pakistan-sponsored terror, which destroyed nine major terrorist hubs in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Pakistan-backed groups, particularly Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), have relocated deeper inside Pakistan, closer to the Afghan border, multiple reports say citing intelligence sources.

A senior Indian intelligence official said to The Times of India that visual evidence showing the two outfits shifting their bases to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province.

According to The Hindu, a dossier compiled from multiple central intelligence agencies said PoK is now seen as vulnerable to Indian precision strikes, prompting the move.

JeM has been expanding its training facility, Markaz Shohada-e-Islam, in Mansehra, KPK. Photographs indicate increased construction and logistical activity at the site.

Hizbul Mujahideen, led by ex-SSG commando Khalid Khan, is building a new training camp named “HM-313” in Bandai, KPK. Purchased in August 2024, construction began mid-May. Boundary walls and initial training infrastructure are complete.

The name “313” references the historic Badr Ghazwa battle and al-Qaida’s Brigade 313, signalling HM’s aim for global jihadi recognition.

On September 25, JeM plans a recruitment drive at Peshawar’s Markaz Shaheed Maksudabad to commemorate Yusuf Azhar, Masood Azhar’s brother killed in Operation Sindoor. The group will also announce a new alias, al-Murabitun (“defenders of the land of Islam”), mirroring a West African al-Qaida group.

The relocation reflects a tactical adaptation, with KPK offering geographic depth, proximity to Afghanistan, and existing jihadi safe havens. Intelligence notes indicate Pakistan’s state structures are complicit, as shown by JeM gatherings held under police protection and tacit support from political-religious outfits like Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI).

KPK is now being used as a rear command zone for JeM, while PoK remains a forward platform for infiltration.

Intelligence has flagged a JeS-led event at Garhi Habibullah, Mansehra, held just hours before the India-Pakistan cricket match on September 14. Ostensibly a Deobandi religious gathering, it served as a coordinated mobilisation by JeM and JUI. Mulana Mufti Masood Ilyas Kashmiri (alias Abu Mohammad), JeM’s chief for KPK and Kashmir, attended, guarded by armed JeM cadres and local police.

“His presence at a public rally guarded by both JeM cadre armed with M4 rifles and local police officers, including inspector Liaqat Shah, reflects both state complicity and the boldness of JeM’s revivalist strategy,” an intelligence officer said. Over 30 minutes, Kashmiri glorified Osama bin Laden as the Shohada-e-Islam and “Prince of Arab,” linking JeM’s ideology directly to al-Qaida’s legacy.