The Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Taiba – two prominent Pakistan-based terrorist groups, which are financed and supported by the Pak Army and that country's deep state – have made headlines in India over the past six months, each for an attack that claimed the lives of civilians.
An offshoot of the Lashkar – called The Resistance Front – murdered 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April and, last week, a terror module operated by the Jaish detonated a car bomb near Delhi's Red Fort, killing 15 people.
Each is also responsible for others, including Jaish's suicide attack on a military convoy in Pulwama in 2019 (40 soldiers were killed) and Lashkar's bombing of Delhi markets in 2005 (60 people died).
And the two, intelligence sources said earlier, combined to attack the Parliament in 2001; nine people, including six Delhi Police personnel, were killed, and all five terrorists were neutralised.
On Tuesday, as investigations continue into the Red Fort car bomb case, intelligence sources broke down the Jaish and Lashkar groups for NDTV, explaining the differences between each.
Operational Style
Jaish – specialises in suicide missions designed to maximise shock value. This is apparent from the 2019 Pulwama and 2025 Delhi Red Fort attacks, as well as the attack on Parliament.
Lashkar - operates like an elite commando unit, executing coordinated strikes with miliary precision. Again, this is apparent in the Pahalgam terror attack, in which the terrorists functioned and opened fire in unison, each asking the same question and working to a plan.
The manner of the 26/11 Mumbai attack is another example.
Sleeper Cells
Jaish – maintains deeply embedded cells that wait for months, even years, before being activated. Again, in the Red Fort blast case, the 'terror doctors' module was set up in 2023 and would have waited even longer before launching an attack had J&K Police not discovered them.
Lashkar – relies on teams that infiltrate India just before the attack.
Indoctrination Infrastructure
Jaish – an ideology-based indoctrination ecosystem that is rooted in Deobandi extremism and centered around its madrasas in Bahawalpur in Pakistan. An example of that intensive indoctrination can be found in the way the women's wing, the Jamaat-ul-Mominaat, set up after Operation Sindoor.
Lashkar – runs a more organised charity–militia network that is broader in scope but has relatively less personalised levels of radicalisation.
Leadership Culture
Jaish – is cult-like and personality-driven, demanding absolute obedience to Azhar. As a result, JeM members are often from already more radical backgrounds – Deobandi/Salafi, for example.
Lashkar – has a comparatively structured hierarchy that is controlled by Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence.
Target Selection
Jaish – focuses on high-profile targets with potential for maximum deaths, such as historic structures like the Red Fort and government buildings like the Parliament.
Lashkar – targets civilian areas and installations, particularly in high-visibility locations to maximise media impact, like the Mumbai 26/11, multi-node assaults.
Propaganda Style
Jaish – emphasises religious radicalisation and prepares recruits for 'martyrdom'. Again, the video released by Delhi Red Fort bomber Dr Umar Mohammad make that point. In the video he talks about suicide bombing as a "misunderstood" concept and about embracing 'martyrdom'.
Lashkar – emphasises military tactics, navigation, survival, and firearms proficiency, making LeT terrorists comparable with special forces soldiers or commandos. The Pahalgam terrorists, for example, had advanced radio equipment that allowed them to maintain contact with the Pak Army, and were aided by a network of Over Ground Workers providing local logistical support.
ISI Control
Jaish - used by the ISI as a deniable, high-impact destabilisation tool
Lashkar – ISI's disciplined proxy regiment, used for calibrated pressure on India
Geographic Footprint
Jaish – has more of an Afghanistan-linked recruitment and ideological pool
Lashkar – maintains a larger social and charity ecosystem active in Pak's Punjab province, which gives it greater logistical breadth.
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
