<p>General Mohammad Zaman Mahmoodzai, head of Afghanistan's border security force, has said there is proof of the nominally Kashmir-oriented group's growing involvement in Afghanistan, confirming fears voiced by American intelligence community.<br /><br />General Mahmoodzai told Times magazine that of the 40-50 fighters killed in an hours-long gun battle recently in Afghanistan, nearly a quarter were carrying documents implicating them as members of the LeT.<br /><br />"The trend is confirmed by US military officials, who say that well-trained LeT fighters are bringing deadlier tools and tactics to the war's second-fiercest front," it said.<br /><br />The magazine said LeT's presence in Afghanistan has coincided with mounting Pakistani concerns that India's influence in Kabul represents an Indian strategy of encirclement.<br /><br />"Originally nurtured by Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as a proxy force to drive India out of Kashmir, the LeT has since raised its profile with spectacular strikes on India's parliament and commercial capital," it said.<br /><br />Stephen Tankel, a US-based analyst and author of the book 'Storming the World Stage: The Story of Lashkar-e-Taiba,' told Time that Lashkar always had ambitions beyond the region and was never really a Kashmir-centric organisation.<br /><br />He said while some of the fighters of the group are motivated by anti-Indian sentiment, others want to wage war against America.<br /><br />"Because of increased Indian influence in the government of post-Taliban Afghanistan, these jihadist desires converge. And while India remains its main enemy, anti-Western activity by the LeT is nothing new -— as the arrest of operatives as far away as the United States shows," he said.<br /><br />"What we're seeing now is an acceleration of trends that have been in place... rather than Lashkar trying to go in a new direction," Tankel said.<br /><br /></p>
<p>General Mohammad Zaman Mahmoodzai, head of Afghanistan's border security force, has said there is proof of the nominally Kashmir-oriented group's growing involvement in Afghanistan, confirming fears voiced by American intelligence community.<br /><br />General Mahmoodzai told Times magazine that of the 40-50 fighters killed in an hours-long gun battle recently in Afghanistan, nearly a quarter were carrying documents implicating them as members of the LeT.<br /><br />"The trend is confirmed by US military officials, who say that well-trained LeT fighters are bringing deadlier tools and tactics to the war's second-fiercest front," it said.<br /><br />The magazine said LeT's presence in Afghanistan has coincided with mounting Pakistani concerns that India's influence in Kabul represents an Indian strategy of encirclement.<br /><br />"Originally nurtured by Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as a proxy force to drive India out of Kashmir, the LeT has since raised its profile with spectacular strikes on India's parliament and commercial capital," it said.<br /><br />Stephen Tankel, a US-based analyst and author of the book 'Storming the World Stage: The Story of Lashkar-e-Taiba,' told Time that Lashkar always had ambitions beyond the region and was never really a Kashmir-centric organisation.<br /><br />He said while some of the fighters of the group are motivated by anti-Indian sentiment, others want to wage war against America.<br /><br />"Because of increased Indian influence in the government of post-Taliban Afghanistan, these jihadist desires converge. And while India remains its main enemy, anti-Western activity by the LeT is nothing new -— as the arrest of operatives as far away as the United States shows," he said.<br /><br />"What we're seeing now is an acceleration of trends that have been in place... rather than Lashkar trying to go in a new direction," Tankel said.<br /><br /></p>