Lashkar-e-Toiba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lashkar-e-Toiba (Urdu: لشكرِ طيبه laškar-ĕ ṯaiyyiba, literally The Army of Pure, also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba or Lashkar-i-Toiba) is one of the largest and most active Islamic terrorist outfits in South Asia. It was founded by Hafiz Mohd Saeed (Hafiz Muhammad Saeed)^[1] in the Kunar province of Afghanistan and is currently based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Ever since its formation in 1990, Lashkar-e-Toiba has carried out a series of major terrorist attacks against the Republic of India.^[2] The organization is considered as a terrorist organization by several countries like India, United States,^[3] United Kingdom,^[4] Russia^[5] and Australia.^[6]

The Lashkar-e-Toiba's primary objective is not only to end Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir but also to establish Islamic rule all over India.^[4]

Contents 1 History 2 Objective 3 Leadership and Command Structure 4 Funding 5 Activities 6 Operational Strategies 7 Role in India-Pakistan relations 8 Area of Operation 9 External Linkages 10 Role in Afghanistan 11 Recent Focus on Lashkar-e-Toiba 12 References 13 External links 14 See also

[edit] History

Formed in 1990 in the Kunar province of Afghanistan, the Lashkar-e-Toiba is the military wing of the Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), an Islamic fundamentalist organisation of the Ahle-Hadith sect in Pakistan. The MDI is based in Muridke near Lahore, Pakistan and is headed by Prof. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who is also the Amir of the LeT. He now heads an Islamist charity, Jamaat ud Dawa (JUD, or Party of the Calling), which is a front for the armed group. Its first presence in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was recorded in 1993 when 12 Pakistani and Afghan mercenaries infiltrated across the Line of Control (LoC) in tandem with the Islami Inquilabi Mahaz, another Islamic military organization then active in the Poonch district of J&K^[7] .

Following the U.S. notification of the outfit as a foreign terrorist organisation, which put pressure on the Pakistani government to curb overt activities of the organization, the top leadership of MDI initiated a reshuffle of the parent outfit. Presently, the MDI claims that it has been reorganized into two independent wings- one exclusively devoted to preaching of Islam with Prof. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed as its chief and the other to carry on its violent campaign in Kashmir under the leadership of Kashmiri scholar Maulana Abdul Wahid Kashmiri.

Unlike other terrorist groups in Pakistan, it was not responsible for the sectarian violence in Pakistan until it was officially banned by the Government of Pakistan.^[8] Though the group was banned in 2002 by the Pakistani government,^[9] clandestine support by army and inteliigence officers is often mentioned in local media reports^{[citation needed]}. The party JUD is legal in Pakistan, although it was banned by the United States in April 2006. The head was arrested by Pakistan, possibly under pressure from the United States.^[10]

The declaration of LeT as a terrorist organization by the United States Secretary of State in 2003 preserves the U.S. Government’s ability to take action against them in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, making it illegal for persons in the United States or subject to U.S. jurisdiction to provide material support to this terrorist groups. It requires U.S. financial institutions to block assets held by them; and it enables them to deny visas to representatives of this group.^[11]

[edit] Objective

The Lashkar-e-Toiba was first involved in the Mujahideen militance against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s and early 1990s. Subsequently, it began operations in the Indian administered Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and has been involved in the fight against Indian presence there.

The LeT’s professed ideology goes beyond merely challenging India's sovereignty over the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Lashkar's agenda, as outlined in a pamphlet titled "Why are we waging jihad", includes the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of South Asia, Russia and even China. Further, the outfit is based on a sort of Islamist fundamentalism preached by its mentor, the JuD. It seeks to bring about a union of all Muslim majority regions in countries that surround Pakistan.^[7]

LeT is active in J&K, Chechnya and other parts of Central Asia. It has been known to host members of Hamas, Al-Qaeda, and other anti-Israeli terrorist organizations in its training centers. The outfit had claimed that it had assisted the Taliban militia and Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan during November and December 2002 in their fight against the US-aided Northern Alliance.^[7]

[edit] Leadership and Command Structure

The outfit’s headquarters was located in the MDI’s complex at Muridke near Lahore until late 2001 when they had to shift its headquarters from Muridke to Muzaffarabad; this was undertaken mainly for political reasons (including detachment from Jama'at-ud-Da'awa and pressure from the Pakistan government), although the MDI has claimed that the LeT has shifted all its facilities and offices to because the outfit needed more space and since it formed a new General Council.

The new Council comprises Maulana Abdul Wahid Kashmiri (the Supreme Leader), with Mr. Zaki ur Rehman Lakhwi as the 'Supreme Commander' within Jammu & Kashmir. Other members of the General Council are - Mr. Abdullah of Anantnag (Islamabad) - Mr. Haji Mohammad Azam of Poonch - Mr. Muzammil Butt of Doda - Mr. Mohammad Umair of Baramullah - Mr. Chaudhri Abdullah Khalid Chauhan of Bagh - Mr. Rafiq Akhtar of Muzaffarabad - Mr. Aftab Hussain of Kotli - Mr. Faisal Dar of Srinagar - Mr. Chaudhri Yusuf of Mirpur - Mr. Maulana Mohammad Sharif Balghari of Baltistan - Mr. Raja Mohammad Irshad Advocate - Mr. Masood Lone Advocate.

Until these new organisational changes, the organisational level of the Lashkar-e-Toiba was led by its Amir, Prof. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and the operational chief of the outfit was reported to be ‘commander’ Saifullah. Organisation's field structure in Jammu & Kashmir is organised at district levels with ‘district commanders’ in charge. Within Pakistan, the outfit has a network of training camps and branch offices, which undertake recruitment and fundraising.

[edit] Funding

Until 2002 the group collected funds through public fundraising events, usually using charity boxes in shops and mosques. With development of humanitarian work of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, it is alleged that a part of the funds collected for humanitarian work in fact supports LeT's operations.

A large amount of funds collected for charities within Europe, mostly by misleading Pakistani-Muslim community in Britain are funneled for terrorist activities of Lashkar-e-Toiba.^{[citation needed]} There have been countless investigations indicating the aid given for earth quake victims was directly involved to expand Lashkar-e-Toiba's terrorist activities within India.^{[citation needed]} Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives have been apprehended in India, where they have been obtaining funds from sections of the Muslim Community.^[12]

[edit] Activities

The group actively carries out attacks on Indian armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir and still operates in the jungles in Pakistan. It is considered a well-trained terrorist group.^[7] U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in a notification on December 26, 2001 designated Lashkar-e-Toiba as a foreign terrorist organisation. The Lashkar-e-Toiba group has repeatedly claimed through its journals and websites that its main aim is to destroy the Indian republic and to annihilate Hinduism and Judaism. LeT has declared Hindus and Jews to be the "enemies of Islam", as well as India and Israel to be the "enemies of Pakistan".^[13] This group is believed^{[name a specific person/group]} to have scores of supporters inside India ^{[citation needed]}, who are mostly poor and illiterate Muslims indoctrinated by radical mullahs.

Apart from conducting terrorism, it is also known to conduct training camps. These camps have long been tolerated by the Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency because of their usefulness against India and in Afghanistan, though they have been told not to mount any operations for now.^[14] Lashkar-e-Toiba had links to Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, however Jama'at-ud-Da'wah publicly retracted any association with them after the United States Department of State declared Lashkar-e-Toiba to be a terrorist organisation.

Lashkar-e-Toiba was banned^[15] in Pakistan in 2002 and is banned in the UK following its banning by the United States in the end of 2001.

Several American Muslims, including members of the so-called “Virginia Jihad Network,” were convicted of training at LET camps in Kashmir and Pakistan.^[16]

[edit] Operational Strategies

Compared to other groups in J&K, the LeT has commanded significant attention primarily due to two reasons. First, for its well planned and executed attacks on security force (SF) targets in the State and second, for the dramatic massacres of non-Muslim civilians. After the Kargil War of May-July 1999, (when Pakistani troops and mercenaries, including those of the Lashkar, were forced to withdraw from peaks on the Indian side of the Line of Control - LoC), the outfit launched its 'suicide attacks' strategy whereby small groups (2-5 members) of fidayeen (suicide squads) would storm a security force camp or base.^{[citation needed]} In another frequently used strategy, groups of Lashkar mercenaries, dressed in SF fatigues, would arrive at remote hill villages, round up Hindu or Sikh civilians, and massacre them.^[7] These two strategies have been designed to achieve maximum publicity and extract public allegiance, mainly out of fear. On December 8, 2001, two LeT fidayeen managed to penetrate inside a security force convoy and opened fire killing one personnel. They were able to generate adequate confusion to escape from the convoy after the attack but were later killed in an encounter with another SF unit.

In some fidayeen attacks launched by the LeT, the terrorists entrenched themselves inside the camp, killing as many SF personnel as they could, before they were themselves killed. In one such instance, two Lashkar fidayeen stormed a SF base at Wazir Bagh in Srinagar, on March 26, 2001, and shot dead four personnel before being killed. In certain incidents, members of the squad are reported to have successfully fled after the initial attack. Such was the case at Mendhar in Rajouri district, on December 16, 2000 as also at Mahore, Udhampur district, on November 5, 2000.

The Lashkar-e-Toiba, according to a news report of December 17, 2001, was responsible for 35 of the 42 such suicide attacks carried out since 1999. More than the number of casualties of the security forces, it is the psychological impact of these attacks that has led to the Lashkar gaining widespread attention.

LeT cadres, unlike other terrorists, are known to prefer death in an encounter with the security forces rather than be arrested. For instance, in 1997, the largest group of terrorists killed in clashes with the security forces belonged to the Lashkar-e-Toiba. Majority of the massacres of unarmed Hindus and Sikhs between March 1997 and October 2001 have reportedly been carried out by the LeT.^[7] One instance is the cold-blooded murder of 23 persons in Wandhama on January 23, 1988. A second instance is the June 19, 1998, massacre in which 25 members of a wedding party in Doda, Jammu were killed. The extreme level of cold-blooded brutality, which sets Lashkar-e-Toiba apart from other rebel outfits that operate/d in Kashmir before, is evident in the Wandhama massacre, where children as young as one year old were murdered along with women and defenseless men.

[edit] Role in India-Pakistan relations

Pakistan denies giving orders to Lashkar-e-Toiba's activities, though there have been several instances of top Pakistani government officials visiting the headquarters of this group.^{[citation needed]}.

A large number of very high resolution satellite imagery has proven existence of LeT camps within Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. ^{[citation needed]} There are also photographs of Pakistan army vehicles and support aeroplanes visiting such terrorist camps. Some of these photographs were recently used as evidence in courtrooms during the prosecution of many jihadi terrorists within U.S.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Area of Operation

While the primary area of operations of the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s terrorist activities is the Kashmir valley, the outfit is also active in the Jammu region besides having undertaken isolated attacks in other parts of India. The Lashkar is reported to have conducted several of its major operations in tandem with the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. The Kashmiri cadre of the HM provide vital knowledge of the ground conditions in the target zone, while the highly trained and motivated LeT mercenaries undertake the attack.

The LeT was also reported to have been directed by the ISIto widen its network in the Jammu region where a considerable section of the populace comprised Punjabis. The LeT that has a large number of activists who hail from Pakistani Punjab can thus effectively penetrate into Jammu society.

News reports, citing security forces, said that the latter suspect that in the December 13, 2001 attack on India’s Parliament in New Delhi, a joint group from the LeT and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were involved. The LeT was also held responsible by the government for the December 23, 2000 attack in Red Fort, New Delhi. LeT confirmed its participation in the Red Fort attack and its involvement in the Parliament attack.

LeT cadres have also been arrested from different cities of India. On May 27, a LeT terrorist was arrested from Hajipur in Gujarat. On August 15, 2001, a LeT terrorist was arrested from Bhatinda in Punjab. The LeT has also built contacts with other Islamist extremist and terrorist outfits active in India. An arrested activist of the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), is reported to have confessed during interrogation on August 21, 2001, that two LeT terrorists had held discussions with SIMI’s Malegaon unit in Mumbai on August 6, 2001 to carry out subversive activities in the State of Maharashtra.

[edit] External Linkages

The Lashkar-e-Toiba was created to participate in the Mujahideen conflict against the Najibullah regime in Afghanistan. In the process, the outfit developed deep linkages with Afghanistan and has several Afghan nationals in its cadre. The outfit had also cultivated links with the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan and also with Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network. Even while refraining from openly displaying these links, the LeT office in Muridke was reportedly used as a transit camp for third country recruits heading for Afghanistan. A news report in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. has indicated that the outfit provides terrorists for the outer circle of bin Laden’s personal security.^{[citation needed]}

The outfit collects donations from the Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and Pakistani and Kashmiri businessmen.^{[citation needed]} The LeT maintains ties to various religious/military groups around the world, ranging from the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya primarily through the MDI fraternal network.

Reports also indicate that the LeT receives considerable financial, material and other forms of assistance from the Pakistan government, routed primarily through the ISI.^{[citation needed]} Pakistan’s security agencies are reported to be providing training to the outfit^{[citation needed]}. A December 13, 2001 news report cited a LeT spokesperson as saying that the outfit wanted to avoid a clash with the Pakistani Government.^{[citation needed]} He claimed, even though the government has been an ardent supporter of all Muslim freedom movements, particularly that of Kashmir, in the present conditions a clash was possible because of the sudden wedge that appeared between the interests of the government and those of terrorist outfits active in J&K.

The Pakistan Army, particularly in the borders with India (the International Border and the Line of Control - LoC) also aids members of the outfit in their infiltration, exfiltration and clashes with Indian security forces near the borders by providing covering fire.^{[citation needed]}

The LeT has also been part of the Bosnian campaign against the Serbs.^[17]

The Markaz campus at Muridke in Lahore, its headquarters, was used as a hide-out for Ramzi Yousef and Mir Aimal Kansi, who was convicted and sentenced to death for killing two Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers outside the CIA’s headquarters in Washington in January 1993.^[18]

[edit] Role in Afghanistan

Guantanamo detainee Khalid Bin Abdullah Mishal Thamer Al Hameydani's Combatant Status Review Tribunal said that he had received training at Lashkar e-Taiba.^[19]

The Combatant Status Review Tribunals of Taj Mohammed and Rafiq Bin Bashir Bin Jalud Al Hami, and the Administrative Review Board hearing of Abdullah Mujahid and Zia Ul Shah allege that they too were members or former members of Lashkar-e-Toiba.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Also, the Lashkar is claimed to have operated a military camp in post-9/11 Afghanistan, and extending support to the ousted Taliban regime.

[edit] Recent Focus on Lashkar-e-Toiba

1. 2005 London bombings: Links to Lashkar-e-Toiba^[24] and Al-Queda involved.
2. 2005 Delhi bombings: During Divali, Lashkar-e-Toiba bombed crowded festive Delhi markets killing 60 civilians and maiming 527.^[25]
3. 2006 Varanasi bombings: Lashkar-e-Toiba was involved in serial blasts in Hindu city in the state of Utter Pradesh. Thirty seven people died and 89 were seriously injured.^[26]
4. 2006 Mumbai train bombings: The investigation launched by Indian forces and US officials hve pointed to the involvement of Lashkar-e-Toiba in Mumbai serial blasts on 11 July 2006. The Mumbai serial blasts on 11th July claimed 211 lives and maimed about 407 people and seriously injured another 768.^[27][28]
5. 2006 blasts at Malegaon: The investigation, presently in its early stages, point to the Lashkar-e-Toiba as suspects. They have had connections with Malegaon's radical Islamist organisations.^[7] Alternate theories involving the Bajrang Dal as the perpetrators are also being considered,^[29] however, no evidence points to the involvement of Bajrang Dal,^[30] and the modus operandi of the attacks are more consistent with Islamist terror outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba.^[31]
6. On September 12, 2006 the propaganda arm of the Lashkar-e-Toiba issued a fatwa against the Christian Pope Benedict XVI demanding that Muslims assassinate him for his controversial statements about Mohamed^[32] (for details see Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy).
7. On September 16, 2006, a top Lashkar-e-Toiba militant, Abu Saad, was killed by the troops of 9-Rashtriya Rifles in Nandi Marg forest in Kulgam. Saad belongs to Lahore in Pakistan and also oversaw LeT operations for the past three years in Gul Gulabhgash as the outfit's area commander. Apart from a large quantity of arms and ammunition, high denomination Indian and Pakistani currencies were also recovered from the slain militant.^[33]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Report on the Lashkar-e-Toiba by the Anti-Defamation League
• Report on Lashkar-e-Toiba by the South Asia Terrorism Portal
• Should Mohd. Afzal Guru be executed? International Terrorism Monitor--Paper # 132.

[edit] See also

• List of terrorist organisations