Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan

Sipah-e-Muhammad سپاہ محمد صلی الله علیہ وآلہ وسلم

Leader	Syed Ghulam Raza Naqvi (imprisoned 1996, freed 2014)
Slogan	"Humiliation of us is impossible." (Arabic: هيهات منا الذلة‎)
Founded	1994 (officially)
Headquarters	Thokar Niaz Beg, Lahore, Pakistan
Ideology	Protection of Shi'a community, armed resistance to Wahhabi/Takfiri terrorism and target killing
Religion	Shia, Shiite
Colors	Black and Yellow
Parliament of Pakistan	0 / 342

Pakistan

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Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (S.M.P) (Urdu: سپاہ محمد پاکستان‎; Arabic: سباه محمد الباكستانيه‎; English: Soldiers of Muhammad) is a Shiite Islamic militant group and a former political party based in Pakistan that was formed in the early 1990s (the exact date of formation is not known) as a response to sectarian violence against Pakistani Shiite Muslims orchestrated by Deobandi militant movement such as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (also known Lashkar-e-Jhangvi). On August 14, 2001, it was banned by President Pervez Musharraf as a terrorist organisation. However, its influence is also supposed to be in India.

History

Maulana Mureed Abbas Yazdani formed Sipa-e-Muhammad Pakistan in 1993. It is believed to be armed wing of Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan. It is involved in assassination of so called Ulama of the Takfiri Deobandis and violence against Takfiri Deobandis in the country. It was banned in Pakistan by President Musharraf in 2002. It is accused of killing of central leadership of Sipa-e-Sahabah starting from Haq Nawaz Jhangvi to recent assassinations in Karachi and Rawalpinid. Its headquarters is in Thokar Niaz Baig Lahore and its leader is Syyed Ghulam Raza Naqvi who was imprisoned in 1996 and released in 2014. It is also accused to be behind massacre of students of a Deobandi Madrassah and burning down of Madrassh Taleem-ul-Quran in Rawalpindi in 2013.

Pakistani security agencies have accused the group of active support and funding from Iran yet there is no evidence of this.

Activities

Sipah-e-Muhammad's primary aim was to target the leaders of the banned Deobandi militia Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. However, with the subsequent rise in the violence against Shiite Muslims, it was thought to be reforming.^[1]

The movement was strong in various Shiite communities in Pakistan, and in the majority Shiite town of Thokar Niaz Baig ran a "virtual state within a state" in the 1990s.^[2]

Military operations

According to the sources , following operations have been conducted by Sipah-e-Muhammad. However, it denies carrying out any of these attacks:

In 1990s, the founder and the main leader of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was assassinated.
In January, 1997, the main leader of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi was killed as a result of bombings near Lahore Session Court.
In May, 2002, the leader of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was assassinated near a Shiite populated village.
In October 2003, the main leader of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Azam Tariq was gunned down.
In August, 2009, the leader of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi of Khairpur, Pakistan chapter, Ali Sher Haideri was gunned down.
In February, 2010, the leader of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Abdul Rauf Asghar was assassinated.
In August, 2013, the spokesman of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi of Karachi chapter, was gunned down near Karachi Safari Park on University Road.

The leaders of the Sipah-e-Sahaba (also known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi) that were assassinated by Sipah-e-Muhammad were also affiliated with the Taliban and its sub-groups in Pakistan.

Affiliations

Sipah-e-Muhammad is alleged to have ties with the Iranian regime although this claim is not yet proven, and to an extent, the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba is also seen as attempt by the Saudi dictatorship to assert influence in Pakistan.^[3]

Designation as a terrorist organization

The Government of Pakistan designated the Sipah-e-Muhammad a terrorist organization, and it is classified as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under U.S. law. As a result, its finances are blocked worldwide by the U.S government.

References

↑ Daily Times.com Vengeance, frictions reviving LJ and Sipah-e-Muhammad. April 7th, 2004
↑ Ravinder Kaur. Religion, violence, and political mobilisation in South Asia . SAGE, 2005. ISBN 0-7619-3431-6, ISBN 978-0-7619-3431-8
↑ Jamestown Foundation Sipah-e-Sahaba: Fomenting Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

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