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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Lashkar-e-Taiba raising Islamist brigades for Iraq |
| 2004-06-13 |
| Less than three months after The Hindu broke the news of the detention of a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander in Iraq, information is emerging that the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation may have set up a full-blown unit for suicide squad operations against Western forces. Up to 2,000 men, mainly between the ages of 18 and 25, are believed to have signed up for the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s armed operations in Iraq. Most come from towns in the Pakistani province of Punjab, where the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s overground political patron organisation, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, wields considerable influence. Most Lashkar suicide squad volunteers come from the ranks of seminary students at Muridke, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s main centre. However, some have also been raised from the Binori Town seminary in Karachi, which used to be run by the fundamentalist cleric, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, until he was assassinated. At a recent meeting, the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s overall head, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, told followers that "Islam is in grave danger, and the Mujahideen are fighting to keep its glory. They are fighting the forces of evil in Iraq in extremely difficult circumstances. We should send Mujahideen from Pakistan to help them." Dr. Saeed’s comments were made at a private meeting in the Jamia al-Qudsia mosque in Lahore late last month. Sources close to him told The Hindu that the Lashkar hoped to be able to send at least some suicide squad members to Iraq overland through the porous Iran-Pakistan border. In April, this newspaper reported that a key Lashkar commander, Danish Ahmad, had been held by allied troops in Iraq. Mr. Ahmad played a central role in the organisation’s operations in Jammu and Kashmir from at least 1999, operating under the nom de guerre of Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil. Mr. Ahmad was first held by British forces in the southern city of Basra, and has since been interrogated by Central Intelligence Agency personnel. Western intelligence experts initially dismissed Mr. Ahmad’s initiative in Iraq as a one-off enterprise, but the new information emanating from Pakistan may force a re-think. Interestingly, Mr. Ahmad may have trained many of the men now being prepared for combat in Iraq. Islam-ud-Din, a Lashkar operative arrested in 1999, told Indian intelligence that Mr. Ahmad had trained hundreds of cadre at the Lashkar’s Maskar Abu Bashir camp in the use of arms and explosives. Dr. Saeed’s tone on events in Iraq has intrigued observers, given his historically comfortable relationship with the military and intelligence establishments in Pakistan. "The U.S. and Britain are raping our mothers and sisters," the Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader said. "In this situation jihad becomes mandatory against them. The Mujahideen are our last hope. If they are not supported today, then tomorrow, Islam will be erased from the map of the world." Referring to possible Pakistani troop commitments in Iraq, Dr. Saeed said that he would support President Pervez Musharraf "if he sends troops to Iraq to fight against the U.S. and Britain. If he sends them to support the U.S., then we will spearhead a countrywide campaign against him." Despite its venomous polemic against General Musharraf, and its presence on a Pakistani Government terrorism watch-list, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa has enjoyed considerable freedom to raise funds and recruit cadre in recent months. The Lashkar-e-Taiba claims to have orchestrated around 200 suicide attacks between 1999 and 2002. Although India has been pushing for greater restrictions on the activities of Jihadi groups, Pakistan has been reluctant to go beyond curbing cross-border infiltration, for fear of provoking a backlash from the Islamist Right. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |