Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami

Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami
Ideology Islamic fundamentalism
Size Several hundred members[1]
Designated as a terrorist group by
 Bangladesh,  Israel,  United States,  New Zealand

Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Arabic: حركة الجهاد الإسلامي‎‎, Ḥarkat al-Jihād al-Islāmiyah, meaning "Islamic Jihad Movement", HuJI) is an Islamic fundamentalist organisation most active in South Asian countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh since the early 1990s. It was banned in Bangladesh in 2005. The operational commander of HuJI, Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed in a US drone strike using a Predator drone in South Waziristan on 4 June 2011.[2] He was linked to the 13 February 2010 bombing of a German bakery in Pune. A statement was released soon after the attack which claimed to be from Kashmiri; it threatened other cities and major sporting events in India.[3] A local Taliban commander named Shah Sahib was named as Kashmiri's successor.[4]

History

HuJI or HJI was formed in 1984, during the Soviet-Afghan War, by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Akhtar. It was the first Pakistani-based jihadist group. Khalil later broke away to form his own group, Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA), which became the most feared militant organisation in Kashmir.[5] This group would later re-form as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), when HuA was banned by the United States in 1997.[6]

HuJI first limited its operations in Afghanistan to defeating the Communists, but after the Soviets retreated, the organisation exported jihad to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. HuJI's influence expanded into Bangladesh when the Bangladesh unit was established in 1992, with direct assistance from Osama bin Laden.[7]

Ideology

HuJI, along with other Pakistan-grown jihadi groups such as HuM, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), had similar motivations and goals. HuJI and HuM were both strongly backed by the Taliban, and therefore the group professed Taliban-style fundamentalist Islam.[8]

Plot to overthrow Benazir government

In September 1995, the group was connected with Islamist elements in the Pakistan Army when the group's leader, Saifullah Akhtar, was implicated in a coup plot. A customs guard inspection of a car outside Kohat revealed a huge arms cache hidden in the back. Subsequent investigations unearthed a conspiracy. Those weapons were directed to Islamist Army officers, Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi, and Brigadier Mustansar Billah, who had plans to first overthrow the-then Army leadership at the next corps commander meeting and then bring Islamic revolution in the country by overthrowing the Benazir Bhutto government. Both generals conspired to eliminate the top military and civilian leadership and establish an 'Islamic dictatorship' in the country.[9]

Activities in Bangladesh

In the 1990s, the training for these recruits was given in the hilly areas of Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar.[7][10] Later on, members of the group made an attempt on the life of Shamsur Rahman, the liberal poet in January 1999.[11] HuJi claimed responsibility for the 2001 Ramna Batamul bombings, which killed 10 people. A member of the suicide squad of HuJi also died. Committed to establishing an Islamic rule,[12] HuJI was the prime suspect in a scheme to assassinate the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in the year 2000, and has been blamed for a number of bombings in 2005. In October 2005, it was officially banned by the government of Bangladesh. The group has been condemned by Islamist groups such as the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh.[13][14]

Activities in India

In April 2006, the state police Special Task Force in India uncovered a plot by six HuJI terrorists, including the mastermind behind the 2006 Varanasi bombings, involving the destruction of two Hindu temples in the Indian city of Varanasi. Maps of their plans were recovered during their arrest. Pakistani passports had been in the possession of the arrested. Huji has claimed responsibility for blasts at the Delhi High Court which claimed the lives of 10 and injured around 60.[15] Vikar Ahmed, a member of an Islamist group, and connected to HuJI, has been accused of murdering police officers in Hyderabad. He is also a suspect in the Mecca Masjid bombing.[16]

Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami has claimed responsibility for the 2011 Delhi bombing. However, this has not been confirmed by the National Investigation Agency.[17][18]

14 people were killed and 94 people were injured in the bomb blast. Police have released two sketches of the suspects.[19] Here is the Embedded video link for this latest attack. This link has English news video clip.[20] This is in Hindi Language.[21] Also as clear in the video links, they have also made threats to target other Indian cities.

Designation as a terrorist organisation

Countries and organisations below have officially listed Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI) as a terrorist organisation.

Country Date References
Bangladesh [22]
Israel 2005 [23]
New Zealand 15 December 2010 [24]
United States 6 August 2010 [25]

On 6 August 2010, the United Nations designated Harakat-ul Jihad al-Islami as a foreign terror group and blacklisted its commander Ilyas Kashmiri. State Department counterterrorism coordinator Daniel Benjamin asserted that the actions taken demonstrated the global community's resolve to counter the group's threat. "The linkages between HUJI and Al-Qaeda are clear, and today's designations convey the operational relationship between these organizations," Benjamin said.[26][27]

Militant attacks claimed by or attributed to HuJI

DateCountryDescription
1999BangladeshFailed attempt to assassinate the humanist poet Shamsur Rahman
2000BangladeshAlleged failed scheme to assassinate the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina
14 April 2001BangladeshPahela Baishakh attack on Ramna Batamul
2003IndiaRole in assassination of the former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya.
2002 JanuaryIndiaTerror attack near the American Centre in Kolkata, executed in collaboration with the Dawood-linked mafioso Aftab Ansari
2004Bangladesh2004 Dhaka grenade attack attempt to assassinate Sheikh Hasina
2005 JuneIndiaBombing of the Delhi-Patna Shramjeevi Express at Jaunpur
2005IndiaSuicide bombing of the headquarters of the Andhra Pradesh Police's counter-terrorism Special Task Force. A Bangladeshi national, Mohatasin Bilal, had carried out the bombing
March 2006Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaBombing of the Sankat Mochan temple, which was traced to HuJI's Bangladesh-based cells
25 August 2007Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India25 August 2007 Hyderabad bombings (suspected, but no evidence revealed as of early September)
13 May 2008Jaipur, Rajasthan, India 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings (suspected; evidence pending.)
25 July 2008Bangalore, India 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending.)
26 July 2008Ahmadabad, India 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending.)
13 September 2008Delhi, India 2008 Delhi serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending.)
20 September 2008Islamabad, Pakistan 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing (claimed by HuJI; evidence pending.)
1 October 2008Agartala, Tripura, India 2008 Agartala bombings (HuJI suspected; evidence pending.)
30 October 2008Guwahati, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, India2008 Assam bombings (HuJI suspected; evidence pending.)
7 September 2011New Delhi, India 2011 Delhi bombing (claimed by HuJI; evidence pending.)

Notes

  1. ↑ https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015/257523.htm
  2. ↑ M Ilyas Khan (4 June 2011). "US strike 'kills' key Pakistan militant Ilyas Kashmiri". BBC News. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan". Asia Times. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "Shah Sahib new chief of 313 Brigade". Pakistan Today. 13 August 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  5. ↑ Hussain 2007, p. 71: "In 1984 Khalil, along with another militant leader Saifullah Akhtar, founded Harkat-al-Jihad-al-Islami (HJI), the first Pakistani-based jihadist outfit ... A few years later he broke away to form his own group, Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA). By 1990, HuA had emerged as one of the most feared militant groups fighting in Kashmir."
  6. ↑ Hussain 2007, p. 72: "HuA was one of the groups on the [1997 list of terrorist organizations]. After being blacklisted by the US administration it resurfaced under a new banner, HuM."
  7. 1 2 Sudha Ramachandran. 'PART 2: Behind the Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami' Asia Times Online, 10 December 2004
  8. ↑ Hussain 2007, p. 52: "The first Pakistani jihadist group emerged in 1980 ... By 2002, Pakistan had become home to 24 militant groups ... among them were LeT, JeM, Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and Harkat-al-Jihad-al-Islami (HJI). All these paramilitary groups, originally from the same source, had similar motivations and goals ... HuM and HJI were both strongly linked with the Taliban."
  9. ↑ Hussain 2007, p. 73-74.
  10. ↑ John Wilson. 'The Roots of Extremism in Bangladesh' Terrorism Monitor, January 2005 issue, published by the Jamestown Foundation
  11. ↑ 'Shamsur Rahman, Bangladeshi Poet, Dies' The New York Times, 19 August 2006
  12. ↑ Sudha Ramachandran. 'The Threat of Islamic Extremism to Bangladesh' PINR – Power and Interest News Report, 27 July 2005
  13. ↑ Azam, Kawsar (4 September 2014). "Al Qaeda won’t gain ground in Bangladesh: Politicians". English24.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  14. ↑ Mirsab, A (7 September 2014). "Condemnation continues to pour from all corners against Al-Qaeda establishment in South Asia". Indian Muslim Relief and Charities. Indian Muslim Relief and Charities. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  15. ↑ Web18 (7 September 2011). "NIA team of 20 to probe Delhi blast". Firstpost. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  16. ↑ Islamist extremism related incidents in Andhra Pradesh since 2007 South Asia Terrorism Portal
  17. ↑ "11 dead, 76 injured in terror strike". Hindustan Times. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  18. ↑ Vishwa Mohan (7 September 2011). "HuJI claims responsibility for Delhi high court blast". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  19. ↑ "Briefcase bomb at Delhi high court kills 11, injures 62". The Times of India. New Delhi. TNN. 7 September 2011.
  20. ↑ "Another e-mail claims responsibility for Delhi blasts". YouTube. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  21. ↑ "Delhi Police Releases Sketches of Two Blast Suspects" (in Hindi). YouTube. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  22. ↑ Rahman, Waliur (17 October 2005). "Dhaka outlaws third Islamic group". BBC News. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  23. ↑ "The Proclamation & Orders List". Ministry of Justice (Israel). Archived from the original (DOC) on 10 August 2014.
  24. ↑ "Lists associated with Resolution 1373". New Zealand Police. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  25. ↑ "Foreign Terrorist Organizations". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  26. ↑ "US, UN declare Harakatul Jihad al-Islami terrorist group". Daily Times. Lahore. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  27. ↑ "Designations of Harakat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI) and its Leader Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri" (Press release). US Department of State. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.

References

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