NDTV reported Friday that Lashkar-e-Taiba members are receiving maritime training at a tourist diving site near Karachi, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The outlet placed the reported activity at Charna Island, 50 km from Karachi, and described the island as a tourist destination with several dive sites. It said the trainees are presented as leisure visitors. Reported instruction covers scuba diving, combat swimming and other underwater skills.
NDTV identified the trainers as members of Pakistani Markazi Muslim League, which it described as a Lashkar proxy. The outlet said intelligence agencies refer to Lashkar’s maritime wing as “Dawa marine wing” or “Sada-e-Hurriyat.”
The report cited earlier detections of Lashkar training at Mangla dam in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and at pools inside militant launch sites. Its sources traced the maritime group to 2008 and said Lashkar now seeks a greater scale of attacks by sea. NDTV also noted that attackers in the 2008 Mumbai assault reached the city by sea.
NDTV said Indian security agencies are fully up to date on the matter and are working to counter possible threats along the maritime route.
