New Delhi, March 24
The ISI is working on a plan to change the leadership in the Lashkar-e-Taiba as the demand for younger faces has been growing. Hafiz Saeed has been instructed to take a back seat owing to his age.
Further, the ISI wants young leaders to head the group as they are bringing in more traction when compared to the older guard. An official said that the Lashkar-e-Taiba is most likely to be headed by Talha Saeed, the son of Hafiz Saeed. He would be assisted by Saifullah Kasuri, a top leader of the outfit who is well known for his proximity with the top brass of the ISI, the official said.
The change in leadership is something that the ISI has been working on for several months now. The old guard, comprising Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, no longer manages to bring in the recruits. The younger generation feels that Lakhvi or Saeed are outdated and their ideology does not seem to be ringing a bell any longer. Further, the ISI also feels that the younger guard would adapt better to technology, which has become an important aspect in terror-related operations.
The new leadership is expected to bring in many technological changes in the Lashkar-e-Taiba. They need recruits who are fluent with the online system. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on a very large scale is also something that the outfit is looking at. All this can be achieved only if there is a young leadership, officials say.
Post Operation Sindoor, the Lashkar-e-Taiba was badly bruised. It lost not just a lot of its men, but also its primary training camp at Muridke. The Muridke camp is where terrorists were trained for major operations against India, the biggest being the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.
An Intelligence Bureau official said the leadership change would begin with the Lashkar-e-Taiba and then be applied to other groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen. The ISI wants these groups to adapt to new technology and use the same in carrying out attacks.
The Lashkar-e-Taiba would recruit youth according to their skill set. The most important skill that the outfit would be looking for is the use of technology. This is an indication that the Lashkar-e-Taiba is moving towards more hybrid attacks rather than the conventional ones that it has been carrying out.
The official, however, added that the change in approach does not mean that the conventional style of attacks would be discarded. The focus would be less on such attacks and more on modern-day strikes that would include cyber warfare and disinformation campaigns with the help of AI, among others.
Another official said the ISI is not looking to put in place a second rung of leadership. It wants a complete overhaul, and the top bosses would be replaced by the younger lot.
Hafiz Saeed would remain part of the group, but as a mentor and father figure. The recruitments and other operational details would be completely handled by Talha Saeed and Kasuri. Both have the blessings of Hafiz Saeed and the trust of the Pakistani establishment.
Post Operation Sindoor, the ISI has tried to help the Lashkar-e-Taiba regroup. In the process, the ISI realised that the youth had lost faith in the likes of Hafiz Saeed. They found them to be too outdated, and this is what led to the strategy change of having a younger leadership.
Another official said that Saeed and Lakhvi cannot, however, be completely discarded. Their presence is needed to at least keep the existing cadre united.
The process to change the leadership has already begun and is being done in a phased manner. There would be no knee-jerk reaction, as it would run the risk of the Lashkar-e-Taiba splitting. Every cadre and commander has been taken into consideration before the leadership plan was put in motion.
Officials say the changes in the Lashkar-e-Taiba would be a test case for the ISI, and if all goes as per plan, then the same strategy would be applied for the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen.
