From Afghan jihad to Pahalgam: How Hafiz Saeed built Lashkar-e-Taiba

The story of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), unfolds from his early involvement in the Afghan jihad to his role in terror attacks across borders. Saeed's journey began during the 1980s when he and scholar Abdullah Azzam helped establish Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), a religious organisation that supported jihad. MDI eventually became the military wing of LeT, which formed in the late 1980s as a response to the Soviet presence in Afghanistan.

As the Soviet war ended in the early 1990s, LeT redirected its focus towards the insurgency in Kashmir. Hafiz Saeed's organisation established training and recruitment networks in and around Kashmir, preparing fighters for attacks on Indian security forces. The group's shift to Kashmir coincided with the rising violent insurgency in the region, and LeT became the primary military force in this theatre.

Throughout his life, Saeed's actions and the evolution of LeT reflect the changing landscapes of global jihad, from the early days of Afghan jihad to its expansion beyond the borders of South Asia.