Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Encyclopedia
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is a militant organization. Formed in 1996, it has operated in Pakistan
since Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) activist Riaz Basra broke away from the SSP over differences with his seniors. The group is considered a terrorist organisation by Pakistan
and the United States
.
, one of the co-founders of the SSP. LJ's founders believed that the SSP had strayed from Jhangvi's ideals. (Jhangvi was previously killed in a retaliatory bomb attack by Shia militants in 1990.)
Riaz Basra gained notoriety when he orchestrated the assassination of Iranian diplomat Sadiq Ganji in Lahore
. Basra was also involved in the killing of Iranian Air Force cadets visiting Pakistan in the early 1990s, when sectarian attacks on Shias in Pakistan were at their peak. Both acts occurred in the northern city of Rawalpindi
and greatly disturbed contemporary Pakistan-Iran relations.
After Basra's death in May 2002, Akram Lahori succeeded him as leader of LJ.
Malik Ishaq, the operational chief of LeJ, was released after 14 years by the Supreme Court of Pakistan
on 14 July 2011.
. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi attempted to assassinate Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
(a Sunni) in 1999. Basra himself was killed in 2002 when an attack he was leading on a Shia settlement near Multan
failed. Basra was killed due to the cross-fire between his group and police assisted by armed local Shia residents.
(IMU), Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
(HuM), Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM), and al-Qaeda
. In addition to receiving sanctuary from the Taliban in Afghanistan for their activity in Pakistan, LJ members fought alongside Taliban fighters. Pakistani government investigations in 2002 revealed that Al Qaeda has been involved with training of LJ, and that LJ fighters also fought alongside the Taliban against the Afghan Northern Alliance. The Pakistan Interior Minister, speaking of LJ members, stated: "They have been sleeping and eating together, receiving training together, and fighting against the Northern Alliance together in Afghanistan."
Upon the death of Riaz Basra in May 2002, correspondence between al-Qaeda and LJ seems to have stopped. Basra communicated to al-Qaeda commanders through Harkat ul-Ansar.
An early version of this article was adapted from the public domain U.S. federal government sources.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
since Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) activist Riaz Basra broke away from the SSP over differences with his seniors. The group is considered a terrorist organisation by Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Formation
Basra, along with Akram Lahori and Malik Ishaq, separated from Sipah-e-Sahaba and formed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in 1996. The newly formed group took its name from Haq Nawaz JhangviHaq Nawaz Jhangvi
Haq Nawaz Jhangvi who was the son of Wali Muhammad was a controversial Pakistani cleric, who founded the Islamic organization Sipah-e-Sahaba in the 1980s. Jhangvi was born in 1954 in the town of Jhang. After completing his primary education in Arabic and Theology, he left for Multan where he...
, one of the co-founders of the SSP. LJ's founders believed that the SSP had strayed from Jhangvi's ideals. (Jhangvi was previously killed in a retaliatory bomb attack by Shia militants in 1990.)
Riaz Basra gained notoriety when he orchestrated the assassination of Iranian diplomat Sadiq Ganji in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. Basra was also involved in the killing of Iranian Air Force cadets visiting Pakistan in the early 1990s, when sectarian attacks on Shias in Pakistan were at their peak. Both acts occurred in the northern city of Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
and greatly disturbed contemporary Pakistan-Iran relations.
After Basra's death in May 2002, Akram Lahori succeeded him as leader of LJ.
Malik Ishaq, the operational chief of LeJ, was released after 14 years by the Supreme Court of Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan
The Supreme Court is the apex court in Pakistan's judicial hierarchy, the final arbiter of legal and constitutional disputes. The Supreme Court has a permanent seat in Islamabad. It has number of Branch Registries where cases are heard. It has a number of de jure powers which are outlined in the...
on 14 July 2011.
Activities
LJ initially directed most of its attacks against the Pakistani Shia Muslim community. It also claimed responsibility for the 1997 killing of four U.S. oil workers in KarachiKarachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi attempted to assassinate Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Nawaz Sharif
Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani conservative politician and steel magnate who served as 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from November 1990 to July 1993, and from February 1997 to October 12, 1999...
(a Sunni) in 1999. Basra himself was killed in 2002 when an attack he was leading on a Shia settlement near Multan
Multan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
failed. Basra was killed due to the cross-fire between his group and police assisted by armed local Shia residents.
- In March 2002 LJ members bombed a bus, killing 15 people, including 11 French technicians.
- On March 17, 2002 at 11:00 AM, two members of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi bombed the International Protestant Church in IslamabadIslamabadIslamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
during a church service. Five people were killed and 40 people were injured, mostly expatriateExpatriateAn expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
s. In July 2002 Pakistani police killed one of the alleged perpetrators and arrested four Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members in connection with the church attack. The LJ members confessed to the killings and said the attack was in retaliation for the U.S. attack on Afghanistan.
- The Pakistani government Interior Ministry said that the suicide bomber involved in the assassination of Benazir BhuttoAssassination of Benazir BhuttoThe assassination of Benazir Bhutto occurred on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Bhutto, twice Prime Minister of Pakistan and then-leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January 2008...
, along with the death of 20 others in RawalpindiRawalpindiRawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, belonged to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi on December 27, 2007.
- Authorities believe Mohammed AqeelMohammed AqeelMohammed Aqeel is a Pakistani Islamist militant and member of the banned terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Originally from Kahuta Tehsil in Punjab, he worked until 2006 in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps....
, an LJ member, was the mastermind behind the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket teamThe Sri Lankan cricket team attack occurred on March 3, 2009, when a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers, part of a larger convoy, was fired upon by 12 gunmen, near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. The cricketers were on their way to play the third day of the second Test against the...
.
- LJ claimed responsibility for killing2011 Mastung bus shootingThe 2011 Mastung bus shooting was an armed attack on 20 September 2011 on a bus traveling in Mastung near the city of Quetta in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. The attack left at least 26 people dead. The victims were Shi'a Muslim pilgrims of the Hazara community, suggesting the attack to...
26 Shia pilgrims on 20 September 2011 in the Mastung area of Balochistan. The pilgrims were travelling on a bus to Iran. In addition, 2 others were killed in a follow-up attack on a car on its way to rescue the survivors of the bus attack.
Affiliations
LJ has ties to the Taliban, the Islamic Movement of UzbekistanIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a militant Islamist group formed in 1991 by the Islamic ideologue Tahir Yuldashev, and former Soviet paratrooper Juma Namangani—both ethnic Uzbeks from the Fergana Valley...
(IMU), Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen- al-Islami is a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group operating primarily in Kashmir. In 1997, the United States designated Harakat al-Ansar a foreign terrorist organization for links to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, and in response the organization changed its name to...
(HuM), Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistani-based, militant Islamic group established by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000...
(JeM), and al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. In addition to receiving sanctuary from the Taliban in Afghanistan for their activity in Pakistan, LJ members fought alongside Taliban fighters. Pakistani government investigations in 2002 revealed that Al Qaeda has been involved with training of LJ, and that LJ fighters also fought alongside the Taliban against the Afghan Northern Alliance. The Pakistan Interior Minister, speaking of LJ members, stated: "They have been sleeping and eating together, receiving training together, and fighting against the Northern Alliance together in Afghanistan."
Upon the death of Riaz Basra in May 2002, correspondence between al-Qaeda and LJ seems to have stopped. Basra communicated to al-Qaeda commanders through Harkat ul-Ansar.
Designation as a "terrorist organization"
The Government of Pakistan designated the LJ a terrorist organization in August 2001, and the U.S. classified it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under U.S. law in January 2003. As a result, its finances are blocked worldwide by the U.S government.External links
- U.S. Department of State:Designation of Lashkar I Jhangvi as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, 2003
- U.S Treasury Department:Treasury Department Statement Regarding the Designation of Lashkar i Jhangvi, 2003, downloaded from Google cache, 29 September 2005
- People's Daily: "Explosion in Islamabad Kills Four, Wounds 40"
An early version of this article was adapted from the public domain U.S. federal government sources.