[24][66] It was founded in 1985–1986 by Hafiz Saeed, Zafar Iqbal Shehbaz, Abdullah Azzam and several other Islamist mujahideen[67][68][69][70] with funding from Osama bin Laden[71][35] during the Soviet–Afghan War.

[73] Once Kashmir is liberated, LeT seeks to use it "as a base of operations to conquer India and force Muslim rule to the Indian subcontinent.

In its publications and on various platforms, the organization has consistently articulated its primary political goals, which include the destruction of India, Hinduism, and Judaism.

[74][75] C. Christine Fair, who has analyzed LeT propaganda since 1995, notes that the militant organization has consistently condemned what it describes as a "Brahmanic-Talmudic-Crusader" alliance of Hindus, Jews, and Christians, whom it accuses of collaborating to undermine the Ummah.

[72] While it has waged violent jihad outside of Pakistan, inside the country, the group has spent considerable effort and resources on "preaching and social welfare".

[10] In January 2009, LeT publicly declared that it would pursue a peaceful resolution in the Kashmir issue and that it did not have global jihadist aims, but the group is still believed to be active in several other spheres of anti-Indian terrorism.

As of 2010, Iqbal[1] was also the president of the LeT/JuD medical wing and secretary of a university trust created by LeT/JuD to carry out unspecified activities on behalf of the group.

In 1985, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and Zafar Iqbal[1] formed the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (Organization for Preaching, or JuD) as a small missionary group dedicated to promoting an Ahl-e-Hadith version of Islam.

In the next year, Zaki-ur Rehman Lakvi merged his group of anti-Soviet jihadists with the JuD to form the Markaz-ud Dawa-wal-Irshad (Center for Preaching and Guidance, or MDI).

While arrests have been made, the Pakistani government has categorically refused to allow any foreign investigators access to Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.

At protest marches in Hyderabad, Hindu groups said that JuD does charity work such as setting up water wells in desert regions and providing food to the poor.

[107] In January 2009, JuD spokesperson, Abdullah Muntazir, stressed that the group did not have global jihadist aspirations and would welcome a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue.

[80] On 25 June 2014, the United States added several of LeT affiliates including Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Al-Anfal Trust, Tehrik-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool, and Tehrik-e-Tahafuz Qibla Awwal to the list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Secondly, the Pakistani army and its powerful Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) have long considered LeT to be the country’s most reliable proxy against India and the group still provides utility in this regard as well as the potential for leverage at the negotiating table.

Thus, the consensus is that, at least in the short-term, taking steps to dismantle the group would chiefly benefit India, while Pakistan would be left to deal with the costs.

Across Pakistan, the organisation runs 16 Islamic institutions, 135 secondary schools, an ambulance service, mobile clinics, blood banks and seminaries according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal.

Some breakaway Lashkar members have been accused of carrying out attacks in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi, to mark its opposition to the policies of former president Pervez Musharraf.

[64][120][121] Christine Fair estimates that, through its editing house Dar al Andalus, "LeT is perhaps the most prolific producer of jihadi literature in Pakistan."

[125] These camps have been tolerated since inception by Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency because of their usefulness against India and in Afghanistan although as of 2006 they had been instructed not to mount any operations.

[129] US intelligence analysts justify the extrajudicial detention of at least one Guantanamo detainee because they allege he attended a LeT training camp in Afghanistan.

During this time the army and the ISI helped establish the LeT's military structure with the specific intent to use the militant group against Indians.

[133] A large amount of funds collected among the Pakistani expatriate community in Britain to aid victims of the earthquake were funneled for the activities of LeT although the donors were unaware.

In January 2023, TRF was banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and its commander, Sheikh Sajjad Gul, was designated as a terrorist.

[157] According to a secret December 2010 paper signed by the US secretary of state, "Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaeda, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups.

[168] A top US counter-terrorism official, Daniel Benjamin, in a news conference on 31 July 2012, told that LeT was a threat to the stability in South Asia urging Pakistan to take strong action against the terror outfit.

[172] The LeT was also reported to have been directed by the ISI to widen its network in the Jammu region where a considerable section of the populace comprised Punjabis.

[174] Even while refraining from openly displaying these links, the LeT office in Muridke was reportedly used as a transit camp for third country recruits heading for Afghanistan.

Guantanamo detainee Khalid Bin Abdullah Mishal Thamer Al Hameydani's Combatant Status Review Tribunal said that he had received training via Lashkar-e-Taiba.

[181] There are also allegations that members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam conducted arms transfers and made deals with LeT in the early 1990s.

[49] News reports, citing security forces, said that the latter suspect that on 13 December 2001 attack on India's Parliament in New Delhi, a joint group from the LeT and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were involved.