Jaish-e-Mohammed

Not to be confused with Jeish Muhammad.
"JeM" redirects here. For other uses, see Jem (disambiguation).
Jaish-e-Mohammed
جيش محمد
Participant in Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir

The flag of Jaish-e-Mohammed
Active 2000-present
Ideology Islamic fundamentalism
Leaders Masood Azhar

Jaish-e-Mohammed (Urdu: جيش محمد‎, literally "The Army of Muhammad", abbreviated as JeM; also transliterated Jaish-e-Muhammed, Jaish-e-Mohammad or Jaish-e-Muhammad) is an Islamist terrorist group in Kashmir.[1] The group's primary motive is to separate Kashmir from India and it has carried out several attacks primarily in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir.[2][3] It has been banned in Pakistan since 2002, yet continues to operate several facilities in the country.[4]

According to B. Raman, Jaish-e-Mohammed is viewed as the "deadliest" and "the principal terrorist organisation in Jammu and Kashmir".[1][5] The group has been designated as a terrorist organisation by Australia, Canada, India, the UAE, the UK, the US and the UN.

Origins

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence is said to have created Jaish-e-Mohammed by working with several Deobandi terrorists associated with Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.[6] In December 1999, these terrorists hijacked the Indian Airlines Flight 814 scheduled to fly from Kathmandu to Delhi, and diverted it to Kandahar, where they were looked after by Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani officials stationed at the airport. After they slit the throat of a passenger, the Indian government agreed to their demands and released Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, three Harkat operatives previously imprisoned in India.[7] The released prisoners were escorted to Pakistan by the ISI,[6] and Masood Azhar was chosen to head the new group Jaish-e-Mohammed. The ISI is said to have paraded him on a victory tour through Pakistan to raise money for the new organisation.[8]

Azhar's leadership is nominal and group has a largely decentralised structure. JeM's membership, drawn from the former members of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, is allied to the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda. They share their training camps in Afghanistan and carry loyalty to Al Qaeda.[9][1][10] A majority of the members of Harkat are said to have followed Azhar into the newly founded group, leaving the former under-funded and under-supported.[1][5]

History

The Indian Government accused Jaish-e-Mohammed of being involved in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. In December 2002, four JeM members were caught by Indian authorities and put on trial. All four were found guilty of playing various roles in the incident. One of the accused, Afzal Guru, was sentenced to death for his role.[11]

In January 2002 the government of President Pervez Musharraf banned the group. In response JeM changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam.[1]

Notable incidents

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cronin, Audrey Kurth; Huda Aden; Adam Frost; Benjamin Jones (2004-02-06). "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" (PDF). CRS Report for Congress (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service): 40–43. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  2. 1 2 "Jaish-e-Mohammad: A profile", BBC News, 2002-02-06, retrieved 2009-12-02
  3. ↑ "Attack May Spoil Kashmir Summit". spacewar.com. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Terror group builds big base under Pakistani officials' noses". McClatchy. Retrieved 3 Jan 2016.
  5. 1 2 Raman, B. (2001). "Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)—A Backgrounder". South Asia Analysis Group. Archived from the original on June 16, 2010.
  6. 1 2 C. Christine Fair, Bringing back the Dead: Why Pakistan Used the Jaishe-Mohammad to Attack an Indian Airbase, Huffington Post, 12 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Jaffrelot 2015, p. 520.
  8. ↑ Barzilai, Yaniv (2014), 102 Days of War: How Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda & the Taliban Survived 2001, Potomac Books, Inc., pp. 97–, ISBN 978-1-61234-533-8
  9. ↑ Popovic 2016, pp. 921, 925, 926.
  10. ↑ Sanskar Shrivastava (10 March 2011). "JeM top commander killed in encounter in Kashmir". World Reporter.
  11. ↑ 4 convicted in attack. Hinduonnet.com (17 December 2002). Retrieved on 8 September 2011.
  12. ↑ Archived May 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ "Synagogue targeted in NY plot, four charged". Reuters. 2009-05-21.
  14. ↑ "US men charged over synagogue plot". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Pathankot attack: First terrorist was killed while he was climbing 10 meter high wall". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  16. ↑ http://www.rediff.com/news/report/nia-registers-case-in-pathankot-terror-strike/20160104.htm
Sources

External links

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