Pak terror groups shifting bases to KP from PoK :Report

Pakistan-based terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) have begun relocating their bases to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in the wake of India's Operation Sindoor, sources in the defence and military establishment said on Friday. The decision reflects a significant "tactical adaptation" by these groups, which now view Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as vulnerable to Indian strikes, while KPK offers greater depth due to its proximity to the Afghan frontier, they said. Under Operation Sindoor, India destroyed terrorism centres in Bahawalpur, Muridke, Muzaffarabad and several other places.

The movement of the terror groups is being facilitated by Pakistan’s state structures, as shown by overt JeM gatherings held under police protection and the tacit involvement of political-religious outfits like Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), the people said. A major development related to the relocation of the terror groups, the people said, took place at Garhi Habibullah in KPK’s Mansehra district where JeM staged a public recruitment drive a few hours before the start of the India-Pakistan cricket match during the ongoing Asia Cup on September 14, 2025. “The event, ostensibly organised as part of a ‘Deobandi religious gathering,’ was a coordinated mobilisation effort led jointly by JeM and JUI in the presence of Masood Ilyas Kashmiri alias Abu Mohammad, JeM’s Amir for KPK, who personally addressed the gathering. He is a high-value target wanted in India, closely connected to JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar, and one of the principal figures in JeM’s operational restructuring after Operation Sindoor,” one of the people said.

The event was a coordinated mobilisation effort led jointly by JeM and JUI in the presence of Mulana Mufti Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, alias Abu Mohammad, a senior JeM leader for KPK and Kashmir, they said. Ilyas Kashmiri is a high-value target wanted in India, and he is closely connected to JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar.