Lashkar-e-Taiba

Lashkar-e-Taiba (Urdu: لشکر طیبہ‎ [ˈləʃkər eː ˈt̪ɛːjbaː]; literally Army of the Good, translated as Army of the Righteous, or Army of the Pure) – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.

It was founded in 1987 by Hafez Saeed, Abdullah Azzam and Zafar Iqbal in Afghanistan, with funding from Osama Bin Laden. With its headquarters based in Muridke, near Lahore in Punjab province of Pakistan, the group operates several training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has been accused by India of attacking military and civilian targets in India, most notably the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Its stated objective is to introduce an Islamic state in South Asia and to "liberate" Muslims residing in Indian Kashmir. The organization is banned as a terrorist organization by India, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union,Russia, and Australia. Though formally banned by Pakistan, the general view of India and the Western countries, including of experts such as former French investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière and New America Foundation president Steve Coll is that Pakistan's main intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), continues to give LeT help and protection. When LeT was banned in Pakistan, the political arm of the group, Jamat ud Dawah (JUD), was not initially banned despite its recognition by the UN Security Council as a LeT front. JUD was not banned until 2015. However, Jamaat-ud-Dawa still continues to work openly as Lashkar-e-Taiba's charitable wing.