JeM, LeT Target Children in Schools to Build New ‘Terror Cadre’: Report

NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Terrorist organizations Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba have reportedly begun targeting schools in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) to recruit children and groom a new generation of terrorists, according to the report from across LoC.

Posters and advertisements have surfaced across major cities and PoJK, urging parents to enrol children aged 7 to 13 in schools run by these groups, offering free education, meals, and monthly stipends.

As per the reports, these institutions also impart war training based on extremist interpretations of Islam. Members of the outfits are visiting government and private schools in PoJK to deliver speeches, while activities such as terrorist-themed costume competitions and plays glorifying slain terrorists are being organized.

Sources cited in the report said the campaign to radicalize students began in September last year, with Jaish-e-Mohammed leading the effort and expanding its reach across government, private, and non-government schools. Lashkar-e-Taiba’s activities remain largely confined to institutions run by its affiliates.

Jihadi programmes are also being conducted outside school premises, with economically weaker families being the primary targets. Several parents in PoJK have reportedly shifted their children to such schools in cities like Bahawalpur, Lahore, Muridke, and Karachi.

The report further claimed that the Pakistani establishment has intensified the activities of these groups in PoJK amid declining local support for militancy, as residents increasingly oppose recruitment and demand closure of training camps. (Agencies)