Lashkar-e-Taiba

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Lashkar-e-Taiba
لشکرطیبہ‎
Flag of Lashkar-e-Taiba.svg
Major actions 1990[1][2][3]–present
Leader(s) Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
Motives Integration of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan after ending Indian rule in the state & propagation of pan-Islamism in South Asia[4]
Active region(s) Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh[4]
Ideology Islamism
Islamic fundamentalism
Pan-Islamism
Wahhabi Islam[5]
Notable attacks Jammu & Kashmir attacks; November 2008 Mumbai attacks (attributed to LeT members)
Status Designated U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organization by U.S. (26 December 2001); Banned in UK. (2001); Banned in Pakistan (2002); Related Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JUD) party banned by US. (2006), sanctioned by the UN. (2008), banned in E.U (2010)
Size 500 – 1,000 operatives (2001)

Lashkar-e-Taiba (Urdu: لشکرطیبہ‎ [ˈləʃkər eː ˈt̪ɛːjbaː]; literally Army of the Good, translated as Army of the Righteous, or Army of the Pure)[2][6][7] – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.[8]

It was founded in 1990 by Hafez Saeed, Abdullah Azzam[9][10][11] and Zafar Iqbal[12][13] in Afghanistan.[14] With its headquarters based in Muridke, near Lahore in Punjab province of Pakistan,[6] the group operates several training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.[3]

Lashkar-e-Taiba has attacked military and civilian targets in India, most notably the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Its stated objective is to introduce an Islamic state in South Asia and to "liberate" Muslims residing in Indian Kashmir.[13][15] The organization is banned as a terrorist organization by India, Pakistan, the United States,[16] the United Kingdom,[7] the European Union,[17] Russia[18] and Australia.[19] Some experts such as former French investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière and New America Foundation president Steve Coll believe that Pakistan's main intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), continues to give LeT intelligence help and protection.[20][21]

Objectives[edit]

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While the primary area of operations of LeT's militant activities is the Kashmir Valley, their professed goal is not limited to challenging India's sovereignty over Jammu and Kashmir.

LeT sees the issue of Kashmir as part of a wider global struggle.[22] The 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".[23] In a pamphlet entitled "Why Are We Waging Jihad?" the group defined its agenda as the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of India and declared India, Israel and the United States as existential enemies of Islam.[5][24] The LeT believes that violent jihad is the duty of all Muslims and must be waged until eight objectives are met: ending persecution against Muslims, establishing Islam as the dominant way of life in the world, forcing infidels to pay jizya, fighting for the weak and feeble against oppressors, exacting revenge for killed Muslims, punishing enemies for violating oaths and treaties, defending all Muslim states, and recapturing occupied Muslim territory.[25]

In the wake of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, investigations of computer and email accounts revealed a list of 320 locations worldwide deemed as possible targets for attack. 20 of the targets were locations within India. Analysts believed that the list was a statement of intent rather than a list of locations where LeT cells had been established and were ready to strike.[26]

In January 2009, LeT publicly declared that it would pursue a peaceful resolution in the Kashmir issue and that it did not have global jihadist aims, but the group is still believed to be active in several other spheres of anti-Indian terrorism.[27] The disclosures of Abu Jundal, who was extradited to India by the Saudi Arabian government, however, revealed that LeT is planning to revive militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and conduct major terror strikes in India.[28]

Leadership[edit]

  • Hafiz Muhammad Saeed – Living in Pakistan – Founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and amir of its political arm, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).[29] Shortly after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks Saeed denied any links between the two groups: "No Lashkar-e-Taiba man is in Jamaat-ud-Dawa and I have never been a chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba."[30]
  • Yusuf Muzammil – Senior member of LeT. Named as a mastermind of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks by surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab.[35]
  • Zarrar Shah – in Pakistani custody – one of Lashkar-e-Taiba's primary liaisons to the ISI. An American official said that he was a "central character" in the planning behind the Mumbai attacks in 2008.[37] Zarar Shah has boasted to Pakistani investigators about his role in the attacks.[38]
  • Muhammad Ashraf – LeT's top financial officer. Although not directly connected to the 2008 Mumbai plot, he was added to the U.N. list of people that sponsor terrorism after the attacks.[39] However, Geo TV reported that six years earlier Ashraf became seriously ill while in custody and died at Civil Hospital on 11 June 2002.[40][41]
  • Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Bahaziq – The leader of LeT in Saudi Arabia and one of its financiers. Although not directly connected to the Mumbai plot, the U.N. added him to its list of individuals that sponsor terrorism after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.[39][41]

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

In 1985, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and Zafar Iqbal formed the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (Organization for Preaching, or JuD) as a small missionary group dedicated to promoting an Ahl-e-Hadith version of Islam. In the next year, Zaki-ur Rehman Lakvi merged his group of anti-Soviet jihadists with the JuD to form the Markaz-ud Dawa-wal-Irshad (Center for Preaching and Guidance, or MDI). The MDI had 17 founders originally, and notable among them was Abdullah Azzam.[25]

The LeT was formed in Afghanistan's Kunar province in 1990[2] and gained prominence in the early 1990s as a military offshoot of MDI.[3] MDI's primary concerns were dawah and the LeT focused on jihad although the members did not distinguish between the two groups' functions. According to Hafiz Saeed, "Islam propounds both dawa[h] and jihad. Both are equally important and inseparable. Since our life revolves around Islam, therefore both dawa and jihad are essential; we cannot prefer one over the other."[25]

Most of these training camps were located in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and many were shifted to Azad Kashmir for the sole purpose of training volunteers for the Kashmir Jihad. From 1991 onwards, militancy surged in Indian Kashmir, as many Lashkar-e-Taiba volunteers were infiltrated into Indian Kashmir from Azad Kashmir with the help of the Pakistan Army and ISI.[14] As of 2010, the degree of control that Pakistani intelligence retains over LeT's operations is not known.[44]

Designation as terrorist group[edit]

Lashkar-e-Taiba 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-Taiba to be a terrorist organization.[citation needed]

On 28 March 2001, in Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 1261, British Home Secretary Jack Straw designated the group a Proscribed Terrorist Organization under the Terrorism Act 2000.[45][46]

On 5 December 2001, the group was added to the Terrorist Exclusion List. In a notification dated 26 December 2001, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, designated Lashkar-e-Taiba a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.[2]

Lashkar-e-Taiba was banned in Pakistan on 12 January 2002.[7]

It is banned in India as a designated terrorist group under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.[47]

It was listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia under the Security Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Act 2002 on 11 April 2003 and was re-listed 11 April 2005 and 31 March 2007.[48][49]

On 2 May 2008 it was placed on the Consolidated List established and maintained by the Committee established by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 as an entity associated with al-Qaeda. The report also proscribed Jamaat-ud-Dawa as a front group of the LeT.[50] Bruce Riedel, an expert on terrorism, believes that LeT with the support of its Pakistani backers is more dangerous than al-Qaeda.[51]

Aftermath of Mumbai attacks[edit]

According to a media report, the U.S. accused JuD of being the front group for the prime suspects of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the organization that trained the 10 gunmen involved in these attacks.[52]

On 7 December 2008, under pressure from USA and India, Pakistani army launched an operation against LeT and raided a markaz (centre) of the LeT at Shawai Nullah, 5 km from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-controlled Azad Kashmir. The army arrested more than twenty members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. They are said to have sealed off the centre, which included a madrasah and a mosque alongside offices of the LeT according to the government of Pakistan.[53][54]

On 10 December 2008 India formally requested the United Nations Security Council to designate JuD as a terrorist organization. Subsequently, Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations Abdullah Hussain gave an undertaking, saying,[55]

After the designation of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JUD) under (resolution) 1267, the government on receiving communication from the Security Council shall proscribe the JUD and take other consequential actions, as required, including the freezing of assets.

A similar assurance was given by Pakistan in 2002 when it clamped down on the LeT; however, the LeT was covertly allowed to function under the guide of the JuD. While arrests have been made, the Pakistani Government has categorically refused to allow any foreign investigators access to Hafiz Saeed.

On 11 December 2008 the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on JuD, declaring it a global terrorist group. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the chief of JuD declared that his group will challenge the sanctions imposed on it in all forums.[56] Pakistan's government also banned the JuD on the same day and issued an order to seal the JuD in all four provinces, as well as Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.[57] Before the ban JuD ran a weekly newspaper named Ghazwah, two monthly magazines called Majalla Tud Dawaa and Zarb e Taiba, and a fortnightly magazine for children, Nanhe Mujahid. The publications have since been banned by the Pakistani government. In addition to the prohibition of JuD's print publications, the organisation's websites were also shut down by the Pakistani government.

After the ban imposed by UNSC, Hindu minority groups in Pakistan came out in support of JuD. At protest marches in Hyderabad, Hindu groups said that JuD does charity work such as setting up water wells in desert regions and providing food to the poor.[58] However, the credibility of the level of support during the protest is questionable. Several protesters claim to have been under the impression they were protesting price rises. The BBC reported that protesters on their way to what they believed was a rally against price rises were handed signs in support of JuD.[58] The organizations' banning has been met with heavy criticism in many Pakistani circles,[by whom?] as JuD was the first to react to the Kashmir earthquake and the Ziarat Earthquake. It also ran over 160 schools with thousands of students and provided aid in hospitals as well.[59]

In January 2009 the JuD spokesperson, Abdullah Muntazir, stressed that the group did not have global jihadist aspirations and would welcome a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue. He also publicly disowned LeT commanders Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah, who have both been accused of being the masterminds behind the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.[27]

In response to the UN resolution and the government ban, the JuD reorganized itself under the name of Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Qibla Awal (TTQA).[27]

Activities[edit]

The group conducts training camps and humanitarian work. Across Pakistan, the organization runs 16 Islamic institutions, 135 secondary schools, an ambulance service, mobile clinics, blood banks and seminaries according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal.[2]

The group actively carried out attacks on Indian Armed Forces in Kashmir and Jammu.

Some breakaway Lashkar members have been accused of carrying out attacks in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi, to mark its opposition to the policies of former president Pervez Musharraf.[7][60][61]

Training camps[edit]

The Lashkar-e-Taiba training camps are presently located at a number of locations in Pakistan. These camps, which include its base camp, Markaz-e-Taiba in Muridke near Lahore and the one near Manshera, are used to impart training to militants. In these camps, the following trainings are imparted:

  • the 21-day sectarian religious course (Daura-e-Sufa)[62]
  • the 21-day basic combat course (Daura-e-Aam)[63][64]
  • the three-months advanced combat course (Daura-e-Khaas)[63][64]

26/11 mastermind, Zabiuddin Ansari alias, Abu Jundal arrested recently by Indian intelligence agencies is reported to have disclosed that paragliding training was also included in the training curriculum of LeT cadres at is camps in Muzaffarabad.[65] These camps have long been tolerated[when?] by the Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency because of their usefulness against India and in Afghanistan although they have been instructed not to mount any operations for now.[66][dated info] A French anti-terrorism expert, Jean-Louis Bruguière, in his Some Things that I Wasn’t Able to Say has stated that the regular Pakistani army officers trained the militants in the LeT training camps until recently. He reached this conclusion after interrogating a French militant, Willy Brigitte, who had been trained by the LeT and arrested in Australia in 2003.[67][68]

Markaz-e-Taiba[edit]

The LeT base camp Markaz-e-Taiba in Muridke, about 30 km from Lahore, was established in 1988. It is spread over 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land and contains a madrassa, hospital, market, residences, a fish farm and agricultural tracts.[2][69] The initial sectarian religious training, Daura-e-Sufa is imparted here to the militants.[62]

Other training camps[edit]

In 1987, LeT established two training camps in Afghanistan. The first one was the Muaskar-e-Taiba at Jaji in Paktia Province and the second one was the Muaskar-e-Aqsa in Kunar Province.[70] American intelligence analysts justify the extrajudicial detention of at least one Guantanamo detainees because they allege he attended a Lashkar-e-Taiba training camp in Afghanistan.[71] A memorandum summarizing the factors for and against the continued detention of Bader Al Bakri Al Samiri asserts that he attended a Lashkar-e-Taiba training camp.

Mariam Abou Zahab and Olivier Roy in their Islamist Networks: The Afghan-Pakistan Connection (London: C. Hurst & Co., 2004) mentioned about three training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the principal one is the Umm-al-Qura training camp at Muzaffarabad. Every month five hundred militants are trained in these camps. Muhammad Amir Rana in his A to Z of Jehadi Organizations in Pakistan (Lahore: Mashal, 2004) listed five training camps. Four of them, the Muaskar-e-Taiba, the Muaskar-e-Aqsa, the Muaskar Umm-al-Qura and the Muaskar Abdullah bin Masood are in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the Markaz Mohammed bin Qasim training camp is in Sanghar District of Sindh. Ten thousand militants had been trained in these camps till 2004.[72]

Funding[edit]

Pakistan began to fund the LeT during the early 1990s and by around 1995 the funding had grown considerably. During this time the army and the ISI helped establish the LeT's military structure with the specific intent to use the militant group against India. The LeT also obtained funds through efforts of the MDI's Department of Finance.[25]

Until 2002 the group collected funds through public fundraising events usually using charity boxes in shops and mosques.[73] The group also received money through donations at MDI offices, through personal donations collected at public celebrations of an operative's martyrdom, and through its website.[25] The outfit also collected donations from the Pakistani immigrant community in the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic Non-Governmental Organisations, and Pakistani and Kashmiri businessmen.[2][25][74] Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives have also been apprehended in India, where they had been obtaining funds from sections of the Muslim Community.[75]

Although many of the funds collected went towards legitimate uses, e.g. factories and other businesses, a significant portion was dedicated to military activities. According to U.S. intelligence, the LeT had a military budget of more than $5 million by 2009.[25]

Use of charity aid to fund operations[edit]

LeT assisted victims after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.[76] In many instances, they were the first on the scene, arriving before the army or other civilians.[77]

A large amount of funds collected among the Pakistani expatriate community in Britain to aid victims of the earthquake were funneled for the activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba although the donors were unaware. About £5 million were collected, but more than half of the funds were directed towards LeT rather than towards relief efforts. Intelligence officials stated that some of the funds were used to prepare for an attack that would have detonated explosives on board transatlantic airflights.[78] Other investigations also indicated the aid given for earthquake victims was directly involved to expand Lashkar-e-Taiba's activities within India.[79]

Use of teenagers[edit]

On 2 August 2012 Lashkar-e-Taiba hired two teenage boys aged 12 and 13 years to lob grenades at a police post in Sopore town in return of INR1000 (US$15). The two children were caught on the CC camera pushing a handcart. They took cover while throwing the grenade and then melted away into a narrow lane. This was reported as the first incidence of Lashkar-e-Taiba using poor children from weaker section of the society for terror acts.[80]

Notable incidents[edit]

  • 1998 Wandhama massacre: 23 Kashmiri pandits were murdered on 25 January 1998.[81]
  • In March 2000, Lashkar-e-Taiba militants are claimed to have been involved in the Chittisinghpura massacre, where 35 Sikhs in the town of Chittisinghpura in Kashmir were killed. An 18-year-old male, who was arrested in December of that year, admitted in an interview with a New York Times correspondent to the involvement of the group and expressed no regret in perpetrating the anti-Sikh massacre. In a separate interview with the same correspondent, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed denied knowing the young man and dismissed any possible involvement of LeT.[82][83] In 2010, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) associate David Headley, who was arrested in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, reportedly confessed to the National Investigation Agency that the LeT carried out the Chittisinghpura massacre.[84] He is said to have identified an LeT militant named Muzzamil as part of the group which carried out the killings apparently to create communal tension just before Clinton's visit.[85]
  • The LeT was also held responsible by the government for the 2000 terrorist attack on Red Fort, New Delhi.[86] LeT confirmed its participation in the Red Fort attack.[1]
  • LeT claimed responsibility for an attack on the Srinagar Airport that left five Indians and six militants dead.[1]
  • The group claimed responsibility for an attack on Indian security forces along the border.[1]
  • The Indian government blamed LeT, in coordination with Jaish-e-Mohammed, for a 13 December 2001 assault on parliament in Delhi.[87]
  • 2002 Kaluchak massacre 31 killed 14 May 2002. Australian government attributed this massacre to Lashkar-e-Taiba when it designated it as a terrorist organization.[88]
  • 2003 Nadimarg Massacre 24 Kashmiri pandits gunned down on the night of 23 March 2003.
  • 2005 Delhi bombings: During Diwali, Lashkar-e-Taiba bombed crowded festive Delhi markets killing 60 civilians and maiming 527.[89]
  • 2006 Varanasi bombings: Lashkar-e-Taiba was involved in serial blasts in Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh. 37 people died and 89 were seriously injured.[90]
  • 2006 Doda massacre 34 Hindus were killed in Kashmir on 30 April 2006.
  • 2006 Mumbai train bombings: The investigation launched by Indian forces and US officials have pointed to the involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Mumbai serial blasts on 11 July 2006. The Mumbai serial blasts on 11 July claimed 211 lives and maimed about 407 people and seriously injured another 768.[91][92]
  • On 12 September 2006 the propaganda arm of the Lashkar-e-Taiba issued a fatwa against Pope Benedict XVI demanding that Muslims assassinate him for his controversial statements about the prophet Muhammad.[93]
  • On 16 September 2006, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba 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.[94]
  • 2008 Mumbai attacks In November 2008, Lashkar-e-Taiba was the primary suspect behind the Mumbai attacks but denied any part.[95] The lone surviving gunman, Ajmal Amir Kasab, captured by Indian authorities admitted the attacks were planned and executed by the organization.[96][97] United States intelligence sources confirmed that their evidence suggested Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind the attacks.[98] A July 2009 report from Pakistani investigators confirmed that LeT was behind the attack.[99]
  • On 7 December 2008, under pressure from USA and India, the Pakistan Army launched an operation against LeT and Jamat-ud-Dawa to arrest people suspected of 26/11 Mumbai attacks.[100][101]
  • In August 2009, LeT issued an ultimatum to impose Islamic dress code in all colleges in Jammu and Kashmir, sparking fresh fears in the tense region.[102]
  • In September and October 2009, Israeli and Indian intelligence agencies issued alerts warning that LeT is planning to attack Jewish religious places in Pune, India and other locations visited by Western and Israeli tourists in India. The gunmen who attacked the Mumbai headquarters of the Chabad Lubavitch movement during the November 2008 attacks were reportedly instructed that "Every person you kill where you are is worth 50 of the ones killed elsewhere." [103]
  • News sources have reported that members of LeT were planning to attack the U.S. and Indian embassies in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 26 November 2009, to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. At least seven men have been arrested in connection to the plot, including a senior member of LeT.[103]
  • Two Chicago residents, David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, were allegedly working with LeT in planning an attack against the offices and employees of Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper that published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Indian news sources have also implicated the men in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and in LeT's Fall 2009 plans to attack the U.S. and Indian embassies in Bangladesh.[104]

External relationships[edit]

Support from Saudi Arabia[edit]

According to a secret December 2009 paper signed by the US secretary of state, "Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups."[105] Lashkar-e-Taiba used a Saudi-based front company to fund its activities in 2005.[106][107]

See also: Saudi Arabia and terrorism

Role in India-Pakistan relations[edit]

LeT attacks have increased tensions in the already contentious relationship between India and Pakistan. Part of the LeT strategy may be to deflect the attention of Pakistan's military away from the tribal areas and towards its border with India. Attacks in India also aim to exacerbate tensions between India's Hindu and Muslim communities and help LeT recruitment strategies in India.[22]

LeT cadres have also been arrested in different cities of India. On 27 May, a LeT militant was arrested from Hajipur in Gujarat. On 15 August 2001, a LeT militant was arrested from Bhatinda in Punjab.[citation needed] Mumbai police's interrogation of LeT operative, Abu Jindal revealed that LeT has planned 10 more terror attacks across India and he had agreed to participate in these attacks.[108] A top US Counter terrorism official, Daniel Benjamin, in a news conference on 31 July 2012, told that LeT was a threat to the stability in South Asia urging Pakistan to take strong action against the terror outfit.[109] Interrogation of Jundal has revealed that Lashkar-e-Taiba is planning to carry out aerial attacks on Indian cities and has trained 150 paragliders for this. He knew of these plans when he visited a huge bunglow in eastern Karachi where top Lashkar men, supervised by a man called Yakub were planning aerial and sea route attacks on India.[110]

Inter-Services Intelligence involvement[edit]

The ISI have provided financial and material support to the group.[111] According to the declaration of LeT operatives, the Pakistan Army from its 12th Infantry Division based in Azad Kashmir aids members of the outfit in their infiltration, extraction and clashes with Indian security forces around the Line of Control (LoC) by providing covering fire.[112] The LeT was also reported to have been directed by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to widen its network in the Jammu region where a considerable section of the populace comprised Punjabis. The LeT has a large number of activists who hail from Pakistani Punjab and can thus effectively penetrate into Jammu society.[113] A 13 December 2001 news report cited a LeT spokesperson as saying that the outfit wanted to avoid a clash with the Pakistani government. He claimed a clash was possible because of the suddenly conflicting interests of the government and of the militant outfits active in Jammu and Kashmir even though the government had been an ardent supporter of Muslim freedom movements, particularly that of Kashmir.[114]

Pakistan denies giving orders to Lashkar-e-Taiba's activities. However, the Indian government and many non-governmental think-tanks allege that the Pakistani ISI is involved with the group.[2] The situation with LeT causes considerable strain in Indo-Pakistani relations, which are already mired in suspicion and mutual distrust.

Role in Afghanistan[edit]

The Lashkar-e-Taiba 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.[115]

Guantanamo detainee Khalid Bin Abdullah Mishal Thamer Al Hameydani's Combatant Status Review Tribunal said that he had received training via Lashkar-e-Taiba.[116]

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-Taiba.[117][118][119][120]

Links with other militant groups[edit]

While the primary focus for the Lashkar is the operations in Indian Kashmir, it has frequently provided support to other international terrorist groups. Primary among these is the al-Qaeda Network in Afghanistan. LeT members also have been reported to have engaged in conflicts in the Philippines, Bosnia, the Middle East and Chechnya.[121] There are also allegations that members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam conducted arms transfers and made deals with LeT in the early 1990s[122]

al-Qaeda[edit]

  • The Lashkar is claimed to have operated a military camp in post–11 September Afghanistan, and extending support to the ousted Taliban regime.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
  • A leading al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah, who became operational chief of al-Qaeda after the death of Mohammed Atef, was caught in a Lashkar safehouse at Faislabad in Pakistan.[6][123]
  • A news report in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks in the U.S. has indicated that the outfit provides individuals for the outer circle of bin Laden's personal security.[citation needed]
  • Other notable al-Qaeda operatives said to have received instruction and training in LeT camps include David Hicks, Richard Reid and Dhiren Barot.[123]

Jaish-e-Mohammed[edit]

News reports, citing security forces, said that the latter suspect that in the 13 December 2001 attack on India's Parliament in New Delhi, a joint group from the LeT and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were involved. The attack precipitated the 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff.

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen[edit]

The Lashkar is reported to have conducted several of its major operations in tandem with the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

Ties to attacks in the United States[edit]

See also[edit]

Portal icon Pakistan portal

References[edit]

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  3. ^ a b c Kurth Cronin, Audrey; Huda Aden, Adam Frost, and Benjamin Jones (6 February 2004). Foreign Terrorist Organizations (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 2009-03-04. 
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  14. ^ a b Ashley J. Tellis (11 March 2010). "Bad Company – Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and the Growing Ambition of Islamist Mujahidein in Pakistan" (PDF). Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "The group's earliest operations were focused on the Kunar and Paktia provinces in Afghanistan, where LeT had set up several training camps in support of the jihad against the Soviet occupation." 
  15. ^ The evolution of Islamic Terrorism by John Moore, PBS
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