Pakistan’s federal government has reportedly decided to rebuild the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror facility in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), that was destroyed in the Indian Air Force’s Operation Sindoor on May 7. Exclusive visuals accessed by ABP News show that Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon recently visited the destroyed site, Markaz Syedna Bilal, located on Shavali Road in Muzaffarabad, accompanied by local government officials and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leaders.
During the visit, the minister reportedly reviewed the damage, received a briefing on the reconstruction plan, and announced that the Shehbaz Sharif government would soon rebuild the JeM facility. According to sources, reconstruction work could begin within this month.
Rebuilding Terror Infrastructure
The Muzaffarabad site was among nine terror camps of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Hizbul Mujahideen destroyed in the May 7 airstrikes, which killed more than 100 terrorists. Following the operation, Pakistan’s government had announced PKR 10 million compensation for families of the slain militants and pledged to restore the damaged infrastructure.
In August, ABP News reported that Islamabad had allocated PKR 40 million for rebuilding LeT’s Muridke headquarters, where construction is already underway. Until now, however, Jaish-e-Mohammad’s damaged facilities, including Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, Markaz Abbas in Kotli, and the Sarjal camp, had not received official funding. Minister Qasim Noon’s visit marks a shift, signalling that Islamabad intends to finance the rebuilding of JeM’s network across multiple locations.
A First Since Operation Sindoor
This is the first instance since Operation Sindoor that a Pakistani federal minister has openly visited a destroyed terror camp. Intelligence sources suggest that the move reflects Pakistan’s growing confidence following its recent reprieve at the FATF plenary in October, where it avoided being relisted on the grey list despite evidence of terror financing.
During his visit, Minister Noon reportedly staged a propaganda event to portray the demolished camp as a religious or educational site. Children from a nearby school were brought in to create the appearance of Quranic lessons being held there.
However, intelligence inputs and photos from India’s air operation confirmed that Markaz Bilal functioned as a JeM training camp. Two senior commanders, Hassan Khan and Waqas Khan, were killed in the strike. Both were seen in earlier images, wielding assault rifles during training sessions at the camp. Another JeM terrorist, Rehan Haider, who was killed in an encounter with Indian forces last year, had also trained at Markaz Bilal before infiltrating India.
