New Delhi, April 28 : Even as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba tries to rebuild following heavy losses during Operation Sindoor, a leadership crisis is fast emerging within the group.

The killing of Sheikh Afridi, a close aide of Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief Hafiz Saeed clearly signals that the top rung is collapsing.

Afridi was killed by unknown gunmen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) by unidentified gunmen. This follows the pattern of unknown gunmen killing top terrorists of both the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.

In 2026 alone, more than 30 such people have been killed by unknown gunmen.

The incidents have been reported from Lahore, Punjab Sindh, KP, Balochistan and Karachi.

What is interesting is that these unknown persons who carried out these hits have completed their job and vanished. They are completely off the radar and the Pakistan security agencies have had hardly any success in nabbing them, an official said.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that such killings are weakening the Lashkar-e-Tayiba largely. Like in the case of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, too, is missing a fierce leader.

Hafiz Saeed is old and cannot lead like the way he used to be. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi seems to have taken a back seat as a result of which the outfit lacks a strong operational head.

Earlier this month, Amir Hamza, also a very close associate of Hafiz Saeed was shot at. This incident dented the prospects of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

Hamza was an ideological mentor and had the capability of bringing in recruits. With him out of the picture, the recruitment process has been hit badly.

The Lashkar-e-Tayiba was already facing a major crisis when it came to recruitments.

Another official said that the killing of Afridi is a huge blow for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. He was not a low-level operative. In fact he was overseeing the operations of the outfit in KP as well as Jammu and Kashmir. Before his death he was trying to actively recruit youth for operations. He was coordinating operations and overseeing the movement of terrorists.

The official said that he was part of the inner circle of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and with his death the number of decision makers has come down.

The official said that Operation Sindoor created a major trust deficit among the cadres of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. The leadership was being questioned as they felt that all the tall promises which were made at the time of recruitment stood exposed thanks to the operation by the Indian armed forces.

Moreover, Saeed has not been active since the operation. He is making efforts to rebuild the outfit, but his presence in the open is very limited. This has made the cadres question if Saeed is more bothered about his own safety when compared to that of the cadres.

These killings by unknown gunmen, too, have added to the misery of the cadres. They question that if top commanders, recruiters and ideological heads can be gunned down with ease, then where is the guarantee of their security?

Apart from the top leadership, the cadres are also questioning the Pakistan establishment. Not only do their camps get destroyed in operations by the Indian armed forces, but their top leaders are not safe anywhere in Pakistan.

The ISI and Pakistan Army made tall promises at the time of recruitment. However the events that have unfolded in the last several months have left the establishment exposed, the official added.

The ISI and Pakistan Army are desperately working on a plan to ensure that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba bounces back. It would attempt a big hit in India so that the trust factor among the cadres is back.

Intelligence agencies say that Pakistan is desperate at the moment and in order to boost the morale of the terrorists and also cause a diversion from internal problems, it would look to undertake a major operation on Indian soil.

/IANS