Representative image.
NEW DELHI: Intelligence agencies are alarmed and closely monitoring the expansion of terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Satellite imagery and photographs reveal the construction of a new “dual-use facility” in the Neelum Valley district.Since November, LeT accelerated the infrastructure build-up of the new centre, named “Jamia Masjid Ibn Taymiyah wa Markaz,” being erected in the Sharda area. This facility, sources said, was explicitly designed to function simultaneously as both a religious structure and a command-and-control centre for terrorist activities, raising acute concerns about the deepening entrenchment of terrorist operations in the region.”The project’s operational significance was underscored by the recent visit and inspection of the Neelum Valley site by Rizwan Hanif, the Deputy of LeT’s PoK unit,” the source added. According to intelligence sources, this facility is one of four major Markaz (centres) currently under construction by LeT across PoK, with others planned for DhirKot, Bagh; Khaigala, Rawalakot; and Palandri, Sudhanoti.These parallel projects signal a coordinated effort by LeT to dramatically expand its logistical and ideological footprint across the territory while shifting a major chunk of its resources to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The strategy is to create multiple small infrastructures instead of a massive centralised Markaz. Rawalakot has emerged as another major construction hub for terror infrastructure. Many launchpads here were destroyed by the Indian Army in Operation Sindoor.LeT is now readying terrorist launch pads at these locations under the guise of mosques. “A huge building is being constructed in the Khaigala area of Rawalakot which will act as a launchpad but in reality, this is again a dual-use facility, named Al-Aqsa Markaz. LeT is attempting to portray it as a mosque. LeT’s PoK spokesperson, Aamir Zia, recently released a video initially referring to it as a mosque, but accidentally called it a Markaz during the conversation,” a source added.
