Lashkar-e- Tayyaba

Lashkar e Taiba was formed in 1990 as an armed wing of an extremist Islamic organization Markaz Al-Dawawa al-Irshad (MDI) formally established in 1987 by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. It was designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by US in 2001 and banned in Pakistan in 2002. It receives funds from charitable activities of Jammatud-Dawah (JuD) and Falah-e Insaniyat Foundation, Middle East, mainly Saudi Arabia, and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). LeT maintains links to the Afghan Taliban and several Pakistani Islamist extremist groups, including the Kashmir-focused terrorist group Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM) and the Sunni sectarian group Lashkar-e Jhangvi (LeJ). LeT is reported to have been involved with militant Islamists in other places where conflict involving Muslims have arisen, including Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo and Afghanistan. In 2004, several LeT operatives were captured by British forces in Iraq.