A Muslim charity with ties to Kashmiri terrorists sent truckloads of goods Wednesday to northern Pakistan's earthquake ravaged region.

"Our first priority is to provide relief to our Muslim brethren," said Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the charity arm of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which Pakistan outlawed in 2002 for terrorist activities. "It is a jihad, and all our members are busy in this jihad now."

Jamaat-ud-Dawa sent twenty-five trucks loaded with blankets, tents and food to quake-affected areas and the group has promised even more humanitarian aid. The group also set up three field hospitals in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

There is rising concern that the rebel aid could provide an opportunity to win broad support for its cause.

"If the government is slow in helping, and the militants are helping them, the sympathy levels for the militants' cause could become higher," says Miriam Rajkumar, South Asia specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.