In Pak's scuba diving site, Lashkar trains for sea ops posing as tourists: sources

Terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who have been sheltered by Pakistan have been training in a maritime environment in a location near Karachi under the guise of tourism, people with direct knowledge of the matter have told NDTV.

The terrorists are being trained in scuba diving, combat swimming and other underwater operations at Charna Island, just 50 km from Karachi, sources said. This picturesque area is popular with tourists due to its many diving sites.

They are part of what the intelligence agencies call "Dawa marine wing" or "Sada-e-Hurriyat" of Lashkar.

The terror outfit had previously been detected training in Mangla dam in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and even in odd swimming pools built at terror launchpads, some of which were pounded with precision bombs and cruise missiles by India in recent years.

The group of Lashkar terrorists who are getting trained for maritime operations in the island near Karachi are being shown as tourists who have arrived there for leisure activity like scuba diving, sources said.

The trainers are members of the Pakistani Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a proxy group of Lashkar itself. Intelligence inputs indicate Lashkar has been trying hard to adapt to operating in a maritime environment.

The Lashkar terrorists who launched the 26/11 Mumbai attacks had landed in the city via the sea route. The terror group has been keeping a small maritime group since 2008, but is now actively working to carry out larger scale attacks from the sea, sources said.

Security agencies in India are fully updated on the matter and are working to deal with any threat that may come via the maritime route, sources said.

During Operation Sindoor in May 2025, precision strikes destroyed nine large terrorist camps and infrastructure, including the Lashkar's headquarters in Pakistan's Muridke and launch pads near the Line of Control (LoC).

Earlier today, the Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) raided six locations across the Union Territory after it found a Lashkar module that had been radicalising and recruiting young people through social media.

The CIK operatives searched several locations in Budgam, Srinagar, Bijbehara and Mattan in Anantnag, and a village in Pulwama. Sources said incriminating material, including digital devices and documents were seized during the searches.

Among the houses searched was that of Mohammad Yaseen Mir, a 22-year-old graduate. Mir's mother Tabasum Shaheen, a Pakistani national, left on April 29 last year and has not returned since then.

It was not clear whether she was denied visa or she chose not to return on her own. Investigators said she remained in touch with her son, a link that the CIK is closely probing.