Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)

[omarali50]

Now on our blog: http://www.brownpundits.com/the-hafiz-saeed-farce/

[omarali50]

Prodded by adverse comments from friends, I have tried to explain my reasoning for why i referred to this "bounty" as a farce (not because the US is non-serious but because the messaging is so bad): http://www.brownpundits.com/the-hafiz-saeed-farce/

[davidbfpo]

An in depth CTC research paper 'The Fighters of Lashkar‐e‐Taiba: Recruitment,
Training, Deployment and Death', published yesterday; hat tip to Circling the Lion for a reminder.

The Executive Summary opens with:

This paper is a study of over 900 biographies of the deceased militants of Lashkar‐e‐Taiba (LeT), a Pakistani militant group that has waged a campaign of asymmetric warfare against Indian security forces and civilians in the contested region of Kashmir for over two decades, as well as other parts of India more recently. (Later it explains)Specific emphasis is placed on providing insights into the following four research questions:
1) What is the general background of LeT’s localfighters?
2) How and from where are these fighters recruited?
3) What level of training do these fighters have and where were they trained?
4) Where exactly do LeT’s fighters die?

There is a lot of data to absorb in the sixty pages.

From the conclusion:

This research contributes to the evolving body of literature that suggests that poverty, limited education and time spent at a madrassa are poor predictors for determining either support for terrorism or participation in terrorism in Pakistan.

Which appeared on this SWC thread:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=16304

Link:http://www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/u...-LeT_Final.pdf

For other comments on the research see: and http://www.propublica.org/article/te...-and-brightest

What strikes me is that based on 917 LeT combatants killed between 1989-2008, based on their published biographies, and the speculation that LeT has trained far more, from the low tens of thousands to two hundred thousand, that is a remarkably low loss rate. Which once again, IIRC as Stephen Tankel concluded in his book, LeT is not about fighting, but the political struggle within Pakistan - leaving aside its long suspected role as a resource for Pakistan's not so covert conflict with India and maybe others.

See a parallel thread on militants giving up:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=15691

[davidbfpo]

A reminder of LeT's role in Afghanistan from 'The Long War Journal':

The "senior Lashkar-e-Taiba leader" and "a number of other insurgents" were captured in the district of Andar in Ghazni, the International Security Assistance Force stated in a press release. ISAF did not identify the nationality of the leader or the "other insurgents" captured during the raid.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba leader "planned and participated in multiple attacks against Afghan and Coalition forces throughout Kunar, Kandahar and Ghazni provinces" and "was actively planning a high-profile attack at the time of his arrest."

Link:http://www.longwarjournal.org/archiv...res_lashka.php

It must be a LeT day, as there is another new thread on them.