Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami explained

Founders:Fazlur Rehman Khalil
Qari Saifullah Akhtar
Leader:Ilyas Kashmiri
Shah Sahib
Ideology:Islamism
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamist extremism
Active:1985–present
Battles:Soviet–Afghan War
Kashmir insurgency
Internal conflict in Bangladesh
Bangladesh drug war
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Status:Active
Designated As Terror Group By:
Size:>400+ (claimed)[1]
Area:

Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Arabic: حركة الجهاد الإسلامي|Ḥarkat al-Jihād al-Islāmiyah|lit=Islamic Jihad Movement", HuJI) is a Pakistani Islamist extremist, fundamentalist and terrorist organisation affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.[2] [3]

It has been the most active in the South Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India since the early 1990s. The militant organisation has been designated as a terrorist group by India, Israel, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States and Bangladesh when its Bangladesh branch was banned in 2005.

The operational commander of HuJI, Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan on 4 June 2011.[4] 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.[5] A local Taliban commander named Shah Sahib was named as Kashmiri's successor.[6]

History

HuJI or HJI was formed in 1984, during the Soviet–Afghan War, by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Akhtar. Khalil later broke away to form his own group, Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA), which became a highly feared militant organisation in Kashmir.[7] This group would later re-form as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), when HuA was blacklisted by the United States in 1997.[8]

HuJI first mainly operated in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets, but after the Soviets retreated, the organisation also started operating in Jammu and Kashmir. HuJI's influence expanded into Bangladesh when the Bangladeshi branch of the organisation was established in 1992, with direct assistance from Osama bin Laden.[9]

Ideology

The organisation along with other jihadist terrorist groups such as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Al-Qaeda & Lashkar-e-Taiba had similar motivations and goals. Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen were both strongly backed by the Taliban, Al-Qaeda & therefore the group professed Taliban-style fundamentalist Islamist ideology. The organisation aims to spread Radical Islamist ideology, to take over Kashmir, Afghanistan, Palestine & the rest of Muslim majority lands from what they claim to be "enemies of Islam" and enforce their extremist interpretations of Sharia in all of the mentioned regions.[2]

Activities in Bangladesh

In the 1990s, HuJI gave recruitment training near the hilly areas of Chittagong and Cox's Bazar.[9] [10] Later on, members of the organisation committed an attack on Shamsur Rahman, a Bangladeshi poet in January 1999.[11] The organisation claimed responsibility for the 2001 Ramna Batamul bombings, where 10 people were killed.[12] The organisation was also the prime suspect in a plot to assassinate the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in the year 2000.[13] In October 2005, it was officially banned by the government of Bangladesh.[14] The group has been condemned by various Islamist groups such as the Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh.[15] [16]

Activities in India

Government of India has declared and banned it as a terrorist organisation.[17] 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. The organisation has claimed responsibility for blasts at the Delhi High Court which claimed the lives of 10 and injured around 60.[18] 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.[19]

HuJI has claimed responsibility for the 2011 Delhi bombing. However, this has not been confirmed by the National Investigation Agency.[20] [21]

14 people were killed and 94 people were injured in the bomb blast. Police have released two sketches of the suspects.[22] [23] [24] The organisation has also made threats to target other Indian cities.

Designation as a terrorist organisation

CountryDateReferences
United Kingdom14 October 2005[25]
India29 December 2004[26]
Bangladesh17 October 2005[27]
Israel2005[28]
New Zealand15 December 2010[29]
United States6 August 2010[30]

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.[31] [32]

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, India13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings (suspected; evidence pending.)
25 July 2008Bangalore, India2008 Bengaluru serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending.)
26 July 2008Ahmadabad, India2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending.)
13 September 2008Delhi, India2008 Delhi serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending.)
Islamabad, Pakistan2008 Marriott Hotel bombing (claimed by HuJI; evidence pending.)
1 October 2008Agartala, Tripura, India2008 Agartala bombings (HuJI suspected; evidence pending.)
30 October 2008Guwahati, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, India2008 Assam bombings (HuJI suspected; evidence pending.)
13 February 2010Pune, India2010 Pune bombing (HuJI suspected)[33]
7 September 2011New Delhi, India2011 Delhi bombing (claimed by HuJI; evidence pending.)

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Chapter 6. Foreign Terrorist Organizations. state.gov. 6 April 2018.
  2. Book: Hussain, Zahid . 2007 . Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam . Columbia University Press . 52 . 978-0-231-14224-3 . 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..
  3. http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/maps/view/pak Pakistan – Mapping Militants
  4. News: M Ilyas Khan . US strike 'kills' key Pakistan militant Ilyas Kashmiri . BBC News . 4 June 2011 . 8 November 2011.
  5. Web site: Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan. https://web.archive.org/web/20100219231349/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LB13Df03.html . unfit . 19 February 2010 . Asia Times . 13 February 2010 . 8 November 2011.
  6. News: 13 August 2011 . Shah Sahib new chief of 313 Brigade . Pakistan Today . 7 March 2011. dmy-all.
  7. Book: Hussain, Zahid . 2007 . Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam . Columbia University Press . 71 . 978-0-231-14224-3 . In 1984 Khalil, along with another militant leader Saifullah Akhtar, founded Harkat-al-Jihad-al-Islami (HJI) ... 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..
  8. Book: Hussain, Zahid . 2007 . Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam . Columbia University Press . 72 . 978-0-231-14224-3 . 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..
  9. Sudha Ramachandran. 'PART 2: Behind the Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami' Asia Times Online, 10 December 2004
  10. John Wilson. 'The Roots of Extremism in Bangladesh' Terrorism Monitor, January 2005 issue, published by the Jamestown Foundation
  11. Web site: Shamsur Rahman, Bangladeshi Poet, Dies. The New York Times. 19 August 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20090423154021/http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2006%2F08%2F19%2Fobituaries%2F19rahman.html&OQ=_rQ3D2Q26orefQ3Dslogin&OP=692a7388Q2FQ2AsE%2CQ2AQ60Q3DYgjQ3DQ3DipQ2ApttQ51Q2AtxQ2AUZQ2AQ3D%2CBikAjBEgQ2AUZjAJQ5CA2dJiQ5C6. 23 April 2009. live. dmy-all. 22 February 2017.
  12. Sudha Ramachandran. 'The Threat of Islamic Extremism to Bangladesh' PINR – Power and Interest News Report, 27 July 2005
  13. Web site: Assassination Attempt on Hasina: Ten Huji men get death by shooting. 21 August 2017. The Daily Star. https://web.archive.org/web/20170822094048/https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/assassination-attempt-hasina-ten-huji-men-get-death-shooting-1451581. 22 August 2017. live. dmy-all.
  14. Web site: Bangladesh Nabs Five Suspected HuJI Militants. 8 December 2016. Benar News. https://web.archive.org/web/20161209164312/https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/huji-arrests-12082016145943.html. 9 December 2016. live. dmy-all.
  15. News: Al Qaeda won't gain ground in Bangladesh: Politicians. Azam. Kawsar. 4 September 2014. English24.com. 17 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170118052106/http://english.thereport24.com/article/12764/index.html. 18 January 2017. dead. dmy-all.
  16. Web site: Condemnation continues to pour from all corners against Al-Qaeda establishment in South Asia. Mirsab. A. 7 September 2014. Indian Muslim Relief and Charities. 17 January 2017. 18 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170118051949/https://www.imrcusa.org/condemnation-continues-to-pour-from-all-corners-against-al-qaeda-establishment-in-south-asia/. dead.
  17. Web site: List of Banned Organisations. Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI. Government of India. 3 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180503233101/https://mha.gov.in/banned-organisations . 3 May 2018.
  18. News: NIA team of 20 to probe Delhi blast . Firstpost . 7 September 2011 . 8 November 2011.
  19. http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/andhra/data_sheets/islamistex.htm Islamist extremism related incidents in Andhra Pradesh since 2007
  20. News: 11 dead, 76 injured in terror strike . Hindustan Times . 7 September 2011 . 8 November 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121023003033/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/newdelhi/9-dead-47-injured-in-Delhi-High-Court-blast-Chidambaram/Article1-742586.aspx . 23 October 2012 . dmy-all.
  21. News: Vishwa Mohan. HuJI claims responsibility for Delhi high court blast. https://web.archive.org/web/20121106104413/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-07/india/30122504_1_huji-harkat-ul-jihad-delhi-high-court . dead . 6 November 2012 . 7 September 2011 . The Times of India. 8 November 2011.
  22. News: Briefcase bomb at Delhi high court kills 11, injures 62. https://web.archive.org/web/20111106234214/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-07/delhi/30122233_1_delhi-high-court-bomb-explosion-car-bomb. dead. 6 November 2011. TNN. 7 September 2011. The Times of India. New Delhi.
  23. Web site: Another e-mail claims responsibility for Delhi blasts . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/6ppRvSD0D9g . 2021-12-21 . live. YouTube . 9 September 2011 . 8 November 2011.
  24. Web site: Delhi Police Releases Sketches of Two Blast Suspects . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/53dmT_j3oh0 . 2021-12-21 . live. YouTube . 7 September 2011 . 8 November 2011. hi.
  25. Terrorism Act 2000] ]. 11 . 2000 . 2 . Schedule .
  26. 30 December 2004 . The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2004 . The Gazette of India . 13 . 10 April 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180410202255/https://mha.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/2004-310320154.pdf . 10 April 2018 . dead.
  27. News: Dhaka outlaws third Islamic group . Waliur . Rahman . BBC News . 17 October 2005 . 24 August 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20080311042445/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4350752.stm. 11 March 2008. live. dmy-all.
  28. Web site: The Proclamation & Orders List . Ministry of Justice (Israel) . DOC . https://web.archive.org/web/20140810135338/http://www.justice.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/9C960928-70AB-428A-BCCC-2E6091F2BDE3/40880/impa_terror_eng_17012013.doc . 10 August 2014.
  29. Web site: Lists associated with Resolution 1373 . New Zealand Police . 20 July 2014 . 16 August 2014.
  30. Web site: Foreign Terrorist Organizations. U.S. Department of State. 20 May 2015.
  31. News: 7 August 2010 . US, UN declare HuJI a terrorist organisation . Hindustan Times . PTI . 27 July 2015.
  32. Designations of Harakat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI) and its Leader Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri . US Department of State . 6 August 2010 . 12 August 2010.
  33. News: 23 February 2010. Pune blast probe: Maha ATS detains suspected HuJI member. Zee News.