SUMMARY
Lashkar-e-Taiba (meaning Army of the Pure) is a major Islamist terrorist organisation based in Pakistan. The group is active in South Asia and has a vast network across the world. The outfit was formed in Afghanistan in 1990 as the military wing of the Pakistani Islamist organisation Markaz-ad-Dawa-wal-Irshad. Lashkar-e-Taiba has been active since 1993 when a group of militants infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir across the line of control between the Pakistan- and Indian-administered parts. In the recent years, it has been banned by the governments of India, Pakistan, the U.S., Russia, and Australia as well as by the European Union.
Lashkar-e-Taiba has a jihadist ideology that is based on the Wahhabi tradition. The group’s primary objective is to gain control over the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the agenda goes far beyond challenging Indian sovereignty over the disputed region. Lashkar-e-Taiba’s aim is to establish Islamic rule over entire India, making it a part of a union of all majority Muslim regions surrounding Pakistan and Central Asia. In addition to the Indian government, the U.S. and Israel are also seen as enemies of Islam.
The group has its base in Pakistan’s Punjab province and in the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir. Its headquarters are located at Muridke, close to Lahore, and have reportedly been set up with funds from the Middle East and Saudi Arabia in particular. The headquarters underline the size and influence of Lashkar-e-Taiba. The complex reportedly houses a Madrassa, a hospital, a market as well as residential areas and agricultural tracts. Moreover, the group operates numerous institutions spread across Pakistan, comprising various religious centres and seminars, schools and medical clinics. Finally, Lashkar-e-Taiba has a network of training camps and reportedly 2200 offices across Pakistan who are responsible for training and recruitment.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is headed by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, a former professor in Islamic studies who acts as the groups “Supreme Commander”. Aki-ur-Rehman is the group’s operational chief. The was charged by a Pakistani court in early 2009 on accusations of planning the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. Amongst others, Maulana Abdul Wahid, Abdullah Muntazer and Khalid Waleed belong to the circle leading Lashkar-e-Taiba. The outfit is separated into cadres at the district level, with each district being headed by a commander.
As mentioned above, the primary objective of the group concerns Jammu and Kashmir. However, the outfit is supposedly behind a number of terrorist attacks in other parts of India, carried out by cells based outside Jammu and Kashmir. As the only militant outfit based in Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba has links to a number of Islamist organisations across India.
Pakistan’s government has repeatedly denied being a supporter of terrorist acts against India. Nevertheless, there are strong indications that Lashkar-e-Taiba was secretly receiving support, instructions, and funding from Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI during the 1990s. Allegedly in return for this support, Lashkar-e-Taiba committed terrorist acts against Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir and trained Muslim extremists in India. This would also explain why Lashkar-e-Taiba was able to operate rather freely in Pakistan before it was banned in 2002. Since then, Lashkar-e-Taiba has denied any involvement in terrorist attacks in India, such as the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai.
Lashkar-e-Taiba entertains close links to other militant outfits and the group has turned into a major global terrorist organisation with many links abroad; especially in the Arab world, but also in Europe, the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Within Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba is linked to the Pakistani Taleban and the al-Qaida network. The group is involved in Afghanistan and in 2004, it became public that Lashkar-e-Taiba had links to Islamist groups fighting U.S. troops in Iraq. Moreover, the group operates in the Northern Caucasus region and allegedly has been part of the Bosnian campaign against the Serbs during the wars in former Yugoslavia.
Lashkar-e-Taiba has been involved in the one-sided category of UCDP organised violence.
