Pakistan govt assures to rebuild Muridke’s JuD headquarters destroyed in Indian strike

Lahore: Pakistan government has assured to rebuild the mosques -- the JuD headquarters -- at Muridke destroyed in the Indian strike, the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League said on Saturday.

The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) is a political wing of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that has carried out terror strikes in many parts of India, including the horrific 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008.

As part of the Operation Sindoor, Indian military carried out missile strikes on May 7 on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) stronghold of Bahawalpur and the LeT's base at Muridke in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.

Pakistan claims it was a mosque and an educational complex that were hit in the strikes at Muridke, located at about 40 kms from Lahore.

Three JuD activists were killed and a controversy erupted when the Pakistan Army, police and civilian bureaucracy senior officers attended their funeral.

“The government has announced to rebuild the mosques destroyed in the Indian attack. It is a welcoming step,” PMML president Khalid Masood Sindhu said in a statement.

Pakistan's armed forces had claimed to have “delivered precise and notch-up retributive strikes” through Operation Bunyanum Marsoos in response to India's Operation Sindoor.

“The success of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos sends a clear message to India that Pakistan knows how to defend its homeland,” Sindhu said. “We have not forgotten, nor will we ever forget, the martyrs of our nation. Every worker of the PMML stands vigilant and ever-ready to defend the country.” India on Friday pressed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reconsider its USD one billion assistance to Pakistan, saying Islamabad could use a large part of it to fund the terrorist infrastructure.

The IMF in its board meeting in Washington on May 9 had cleared a USD one billion tranche for Pakistan as part of its USD 7-billion funding programme for the country.

In his address to air warriors at Gujarat's Bhuj Air Force station, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Pakistan has again started trying to rebuild the terror infrastructure destroyed by India last week.

Islamabad will “spend the money collected from the common citizens of Pakistan to pay around Rs 14 crore to Masood Azhar, the head of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad” and a UN designated terrorist.

“The Pakistan government has announced financial assistance to rebuild the terror infrastructure of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed located in Muridke and Bahawalpur. Certainly, a large part of IMF's USD one billion assistance will be used to fund the terror infrastructure,” Singh said.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami former chief Siraj-ul visited the Jamia Masjid Umm al-Qura (JuD headquarters) at Muridke and condemned the Indian attack.

He said India fired four missiles on the mosque and the educational complex in Muridke (JuD headquarters) destroying the mosque, homes, and hostel. Despite this, the spirit and resolve of the local population remain high, he said.