Military and civilian airports, airbases, a dam, a gas and oil pipeline, and Army-administered cantonment areas are among the strategic facilities located in the proximity of terrorist training sites in Pakistan and occupied Jammu and Kashmir that were struck by Indian forces on Wednesday morning.
One of the nine bombed terror facilities, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)-run Markaz Taiba, is situated merely 56 km away from the sprawling family palace where Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s family reside in Lahore.
The Mehmoona Joya terror camp in Sialkot of Pakistan’s Punjab is situated just 6 km from the Marala dam – the first facility that regulates water flow of the Chenab river after it enters Pakistan from India.
Here are important details about the key terror sites struck by the Indian armed forces:
Markaz Subhan Allah: Spread over 15 acres, this is the main centre of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) for training and indoctrination of youth in Bahawalpur, and serves as its operational headquarters. Terrorists involved in the 2019 Pulwama attack were trained at this camp, as per the Indian government.
The facility houses the residences of JeM chief Masood Azhar, de-facto chief Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar, Maulana Ammar and other family members.
JeM organises regular arms training for its cadres at Markaz Subhan Allah. It houses more than 600 cadres.
Markaz Taiba: It is the most important training centre of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and is located in Muridke, Pakistan Punjab. Spread over 82 acres, it comprises of madrassa, market, residential area for terror entities, sports facility, a fish farm and agricultural tracts.
It houses an arms and physical training facility, and a separate sufa academy for religious indoctrination of male and female cadres. This facility serves as a mushrooming ground for the radicalisation of students to motivate them to join the armed jihad. It enrols around 1000 students annually.
A mosque and a guest house at Markaz Taiba were financed by Osama Bin Laden. All the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, including Ajmal Kasab, were imparted intelligence training at this facility. Attack conspirators David Coleman Headly and Tahawwur Hussain Rana had visited Muridke.
Sarjal camp: Concealed inside a primary health centre in Shakargarh area of Narowal district of Pakistan Punjab, it’s the main launching site of JeM to send terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir. As per the Indian dossier, Pakistan’s spy agency ISI facilitated the setting up of such launch facilities along the international border and Line of Control in government buildings to hide terror infrastructure.
This terror facility is situated just 6 km from the international border in the Samba sector. It serves as the base for digging cross-border tunnels for the infiltration of terrorists. ISI and JeM have developed a network of underground tunnels in the Shakargarh area, which is used for infiltration of JeM cadres into India.
Sarjal facility also serves as the launching base to drop arms, ammunition, and narcotics by drones into Indian territory. Instructions to terrorists operating in J&K are being communicated through an encrypted mode from the facility. At least 20 JeM terrorists usually remain stationed at this facility to supervise infiltration attempts.
Mehmoona Joya camp: Situated near the Marala dam in Sialkot, this facility of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) is used for infiltration of HM cadres into the Jammu region. HM cadres are also given training for terrorist operations and handling of weapons here. Irfan Tanda, the facility’s commander, has been involved in carrying out several attacks in Jammu region, including the 1995 Maulana Azad Stadium attack that killed eight people and injured 50.
It consists of a single-story concrete building with three rooms, one kitchen and one bathroom. Quarters of the nearby hospital is used to accommodate HM cadres. It can accommodate approximately 50 cadres at a time. Around 20 terrorists are usually present at this facility every time.
Markaz Ahle Hadith, PoK: One of the important facilities of LeT in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, it is used for infiltration of terrorists and arms/ammunition into Poonch–Rajauri-Reasi sector. It can accommodate 100-150 cadres, and around 40–50 cadres are usually present at this facility at any point in time, supervising terror activities being organised from here.
It’s also utilized as a staging centre for LeT terrorists before infiltrating into Indian territory.