| Harakat ul-Jihad al-Islami | |
|---|---|
 Jihadist flag used by Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami | |
| Founders | Fazlur Rehman Khalil Qari Saifullah Akhtar † |
| Leader | Ilyas Kashmiri † Shah Sahib |
| Dates of operation | 1985–present |
| Active regions | |
| Ideology | Islamism Islamic fundamentalism Islamist extremism |
| Notable attacks | Beheading of Bhausaheb Maruti Talekar[1] |
| Status | Active |
| Size | >400+ (claimed)[2] |
| Allies |  Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen Lashkar-e-Taiba Jaish-e-MohammedHaqqani Network  Taliban  Pakistani TalibanAsian Tigers  Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen BangladeshIndian Mujahideen[3] |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | |
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Arabic:حركة الجهاد الإسلامي,romanised: Ḥarkat al-Jihād al-Islāmiyah,lit. 'Islamic Jihad Movement"',HuJI) is a PakistaniIslamic fundamentalist organisation affiliated withAl-Qaeda and theTaliban.[4][5]
It has been most active in the South Asian countries ofPakistan,Bangladesh andIndia since the early 1990s. The organisation has been designated as a terrorist group byIndia,Israel,New Zealand,United Kingdom,United States andBangladesh when itsBangladesh branch was banned in 2005.
The operational commander of HuJI,Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed in a USdrone strike in South Waziristan on 4 June 2011.[6] He was linked to the13 February 2010 bombing of a German bakery in Pune. A statement was released soon after the attack that claimed to be from Kashmiri; it threatened other cities and major sporting events in India.[7] A local Taliban commander, Shah Sahib, was named as Kashmiri's successor.[8]
HuJI or HJI was formed in 1984, during theSoviet–Afghan War, byFazlur Rehman Khalil andQari Saifullah Akhtar. Khalil later broke away to form his own group,Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA), which became a highly feared militant organisation in Kashmir.[9] This group re-formed asHarkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) when HuA was blacklisted by theUnited States in 1997.[10]
HuJI first mainly operated in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets, but after the Soviets retreated, the organisation also started operating inJammu and Kashmir. HuJI's influence expanded intoBangladesh when theBangladeshi branch of the organisation was established in 1992, with direct assistance fromOsama bin Laden.[11]
The organisation along with other jihadist terrorist groups such asHarkat-ul-Mujahideen,Jaish-e-Mohammed,Al-Qaeda &Lashkar-e-Taiba have similar motivations and goals. Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami andHarkat-ul-Mujahideen were both strongly backed by theTaliban andAl-Qaeda and the group professedTaliban-stylefundamentalist Islamist ideology. The organisation aims to spreadradical Islamist ideology, to take overKashmir,Afghanistan,Palestine, and the rest of Muslim-majority lands from what it calls "enemies ofIslam" and enforce its extremist interpretations ofSharia in all those regions.[4]
In the 1990s, HuJI gaverecruitment training near the hilly areas ofChittagong andCox's Bazar.[11][12] In 1999, members of the organisation attacked Bangladeshi poetShamsur Rahman.[13] HuJI claimed responsibility for the2001 Ramna Batamul bombings, where 10 people were killed.[14] It was also the prime suspect in a plot to assassinate former Bangladeshi prime ministerSheikh Hasina in 2000.[15] In 2005, it was officially banned by the government of Bangladesh.[16] HuJI has been condemned by variousIslamist groups such as theHefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh.[17][18]
In 2008, the founders formed Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) and Abdus Salam was chosen as the leader.[19]
Thegovernment of India has declared HuJI a terrorist organisation and banned it.[20] In 2006, the Indian state policeSpecial Task Force uncovered a plot by six HuJI members, including the mastermind of the2006 Varanasi bombings, involving the destruction of twoHindu temples inVaranasi. Maps of their plans were recovered during their arrest. The organisation has claimed responsibility for blasts at theDelhi High Court that killed 10 people and injured around 60.[21]Vikar Ahmed, a member of anIslamist group connected to HuJI, has been accused of murdering police officers in Hyderabad. He is also a suspect in theMecca Masjid bombing.[22]
HuJI claimed responsibility for the2011 Delhi bombing, but this has not been confirmed by theNational Investigation Agency.[23][24] 14 people were killed and 94 injured in the blast. Police have released two sketches of the suspects.[25][26][27] HuJI has threatened to target other Indian cities.
| Country | Date | References |
| United Kingdom | 14 October 2005 | [28] |
| India | 29 December 2004 | [29] |
| Bangladesh | 17 October 2005 | [30] |
| Israel | 2005 | [31] |
| New Zealand | 15 December 2010 | [32] |
| United States | 6 August 2010 | [33] |
On 6 August 2010, theUnited Nations designated Harakat-ul Jihad al-Islami a foreign terror group and blacklisted its commander,Ilyas Kashmiri. State Department counterterrorism coordinatorDaniel Benjamin said this demonstrated the global community's resolve to counter the group's threat. "The linkages between HUJI and Al-Qaeda are clear, and today's designations convey the operational relationship between these organisations", he said.[34][35]
| Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Bangladesh | Failed attempt to assassinate the humanist poetShamsur Rahman |
| 2000 | Bangladesh | Alleged failed scheme to assassinate thePrime Minister of BangladeshSheikh Hasina |
| 14 April 2001 | Bangladesh | Pahela Baishakhattack on Ramna Batamul |
| 2003 | India | Role in assassination of the formerGujarat Home MinisterHaren Pandya. |
| 2002 January | India | Terror attack near the American Centre inKolkata, executed in collaboration with the Dawood-linked mafioso Aftab Ansari |
| 2004 | Bangladesh | 2004 Dhaka grenade attack attempt to assassinateSheikh Hasina |
| 2005 June | India | Bombing of the Delhi-PatnaShramjeevi Express at Jaunpur |
| 2005 | India | Suicide bombing of the headquarters of theAndhra Pradesh Police's counter-terrorism Special Task Force. A Bangladeshi national, Mohatasin Bilal, had carried out the bombing |
| March 2006 | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India | Bombing of theSankat Mochan temple, which was traced to HuJI'sBangladesh-based cells |
| 25 August 2007 | Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India | 25 August 2007 Hyderabad bombings (suspected, but no evidence revealed as of early September) |
| 13 May 2008 | Jaipur, Rajasthan, India | 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings (suspected; evidence pending.) |
| 25 July 2008 | Bangalore, India | 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending.) |
| 26 July 2008 | Ahmadabad, India | 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending.) |
| 13 September 2008 | Delhi, India | 2008 Delhi serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending.) |
| 20 September 2008 | Islamabad, Pakistan | 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing (claimed by HuJI; evidence pending.) |
| 1 October 2008 | Agartala, Tripura, India | 2008 Agartala bombings (HuJI suspected; evidence pending.) |
| 30 October 2008 | Guwahati,Barpeta,Kokrajhar,Bongaigaon, India | 2008 Assam bombings (HuJI suspected; evidence pending.) |
| 13 February 2010 | Pune, India | 2010 Pune bombing (HuJI suspected)[36] |
| 7 September 2011 | New Delhi, India | 2011 Delhi bombing (claimed by HuJI; evidence pending.) |
The first Pakistani jihadist group emerged in 1980 ... By 2002, Pakistan had become home to 24 militant groups ... among them were LeT, JeM, Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and Harkat-al-Jihad-al-Islami (HJI). All these paramilitary groups, originally from the same source, had similar motivations and goals ... HuM and HJI were both strongly linked with the Taliban.
In 1984 Khalil, along with another militant leader Saifullah Akhtar, founded Harkat-al-Jihad-al-Islami (HJI) ... A few years later he broke away to form his own group, Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA). By 1990, HuA had emerged as one of the most feared militant groups fighting in Kashmir.
HuA was one of the groups on the [1997 list of terrorist organisations]. After being blacklisted by the US administration it resurfaced under a new banner, HuM.
