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.