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 On Aug. 6, 2002, Islamic militants attacked Hindu pilgrims at dawn in Indian Kashmir, killing nine and wounding at least 27. Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani quickly identified Al Mansoorian, the group responsible for the attack, as a front for Lashkar-i-Taiba (LT), an Islamic militant group that has been active in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), a contested territory between India and Pakistan, since the early 1990s.
Foundation and History
LT was formed in 1990 as the military wing of the Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), a Pakistani-based Islamic fundamentalist organization.
The MDI recruited volunteers to fight as mujaheddin against Soviet occupation during the 1980s, and many of its members trace their military expertise to this campaign. The group had close ties with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where it continued to train and educate its members until the U.S.-led campaign forced them to relocate.
After the Afghan campaign, many mujaheddin militants, among them LT fighters, found their way to the Kashmiri conflict. Most LT members are non-Kashmiri Pakistanis that were trained in madrassas (Islamic seminars). Like other Islamic groups, the organization received support and training from the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI). MDI/LT presence in Kashmir dates back to 1993.
The group enjoyed massive Pakistani support until Dec. 26, 2001, when the United States designated the group a foreign terrorist organization. That same month, Pakistan froze LT assets at America's request, and approximately three weeks later Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf included the organization in a list of banned terrorist groups. Subsequently, LT reorganized in an attempt to separate its military actions in Kashmir from its religious undertakings in Pakistan. The Aug. 6 attack by Al Mansoorian may well be a product of this restructuring.
Goals and Doctrine
LT doctrine, heavily influenced by MDI's fundamentalist views, strives for a pan-Islamic rule in Central Asia. Some of its leaders and publications encourage greater ambitions, calling for a worldwide jihad. However, an analysis of LT operations and target selection points toward a predominantly anti-Western and anti-Indian agenda. Like Harakat ul-Mujaheddin and Jaish-e-Muhammad, the group strives for the secession of J&K from India and inclusion into a pan-Islamic entity in the Pakistani model.
Operating Methods
LT has carried out tens, if not hundreds, of attacks against Indian troops and civilians in Kashmir. Traditionally, the group uses small arms, explosives, and rocket propelled grenades, but like many fundamentalist militias, LT fighters have engaged in suicide missions in recent years.
LT fighters show determination in executing suicide attacks, in which small groups of two to five members attack Indian troops. LT militants also carry out massacres of non-Muslim civilians, especially Hindus and Sikhs. Typically, several militants disguise themselves, sometimes as Indian Special Forces, before rounding up civilians in remote villages and executing them. Indian agencies believe LT members, some disguised as Hindu holy men, killed 27 — including 13 women and a child — slum dwellers in Jammu on July 13, 2002. In August 2000, approximately 100 people died in Kashmir from militants' attacks, with similarly high monthly casualty rates not uncommon since 1996. LT leaders claim they were blamed unjustifiably for many incidents. India claims that LT and Jaish-e-Muhammad, attacked the parliament in Delhi on Dec. 13, 2001, killing 12.
Estimates of LT members vary, but the group has at least several hundred members in Pakistan, Azad Kashmir, and India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions. LT trained its members in madrassas in Afghanistan and in Pakistani Kashmir before recent events forced them to abandon the Afghan arena.
The mercenary character of the group and the MDI's fraternal nature lead many Western agencies to believe that LT members have participated in other conflicts where Muslims were involved. Reports on LT members fighting in Chechnya, Bosnia, parts of the Middle East, and the Philippines have emerged, possibly indicating close ties with al Qaeda.
Leadership
Abdul Wahid Kashmiri leads LT military operations in Kashmir. The organization has been headquartered in Muridke near Lahore and in Muzaffarabad. Reportedly, LT operations have completely shifted to Pakistani-occupied Kashmir. LT founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed recently headed the MDI, and is a graduate of the Afghan jihad against the Soviets. "America supported us with guns," he said to the New York Times' Barry Bearak in a story dated Oct. 10, 2000. "If we were not terrorists then, why are we terrorists now? How can Americans stand for such double standards?"
Saeed reportedly resigned from the LT before the group was banned in Pakistan, but was detained twice over the past months as part of the Pakistani crackdown on Islamic militants. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
Madrassas and Islamic Warriors
Robin Wright provided insight into the LT organization in a Dec. 28, 2000, Los Angeles Times story. Abu Samara was 14 when he joined the Islamic effort. During the 1990s, he received weapons training in Afghanistan's mountains and religious schooling in madrassas. At the turn of the century, Abu Samara found himself involved in the Kashmiri conflict, repeatedly crossing into Kashmir from Pakistan to wage war on India. He operated out of a self-sustaining MDI center in Pakistan that offers spiritual and military training.
Militants, sometimes 12-year-olds, underwent training on obstacle courses, preparing them for operations in Kashmir's mountainous terrain. The center recruited most of its members from the thousands of madrassas in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which attract boys as young as seven. "I'll be here a few more years to study Islam and then I'll join the jihad. God willing, I'll go wherever in the world I'm needed. I'm not afraid," said 12-year-old Hamim Ullah to Wright. Recent anti-militants efforts notwithstanding, many madrassas and training centers are still active in the region.
Conclusion
Between 30,000 and 60,000 people have been killed in Kashmir, one of the world's most violent places. Civilians are trapped between Islamic militants and Indian troops, as the international community looks away to more "pressing" matters. The Bush administration's rhetorical pressure on Musharraf to stop infiltrations into J&K seems fruitless, but America's newest South Asian friend seems comfortable dancing with both parties. In the meantime, Kashmiri civilians — Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus — continue to meet their end between the two nuclear powers.
References
Bearak, Barry, "Lahore Journal; A Jihad Leader Finds the U.S. Perplexingly Fickle," The New York Times, late edition - final, section A, p. 4, Oct. 10, 2000.
"Lashkar-e-Toiba 'Army of the Pure'," South Asia Terrorism Portal.
"Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001," U.S. Department of State.
"Terrorism: Q&A: Harakat ul-Mujahedeen, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Kashmir, Islamists," Council on Foreign Relations.
Wright, Robin, "The Changing Face of Islam; The Chilling Goal of Islam's New Warriors," The Los Angeles Times, p. A1, Dec. 28, 2000.
Various articles by The Associated Press, Reuters, BBC, and USA TODAY.
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