Jaish-e-Mohammed: Prophet’s Army is Down but Certainly Not Out

By Frank Hyland & Animesh Roul

This column is another in the ongoing series on the terrorist threat to India and the surrounding region by Frank Hyland and Animesh Roul.

Following severe setbacks in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in 2007 at the hands of security forces, Jaish-e-Mohammed (Army of the Prophet) reportedly plans to unleash major terrorist strikes on Indian establishments. Sources in the Indian Intelligence agencies have warned that in early 2008, even though JeM had lost more than 25 commanders in the last couple of years, the group can still make a comeback in the Kashmir valley and elsewhere in India with its signature suicide attacks. Again this May, nearly six Jaish militants, including two local commanders (Javed Ahmed Lone, and Qari Asif), were killed by security forces in a prolonged encounter in Lurem Jagir forest near Tral town (Pulwama district) of J&K.

Despite these setbacks, the group recently had issued letters threatening widespread 'bloodshed' by triggering blasts in commuter trains and other vital places in Aligarh and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh as well as railway stations across Gujarat. Desperate to remain relevant, JeM’s last major attempt to strike in the national capital was foiled in February 4, 2007 when four of its senior cadres were arrested by the Delhi Police near the busy Connaught Place area along with RDX, timers, detonators, hand grenades, and huge amount money including foreign currency ($10,000).

The Union Home Ministry of India noted in its Annual Report (2007-08) that the involvement of JeM - Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)- and Bangladesh-based HuJI, has been observed in most of the terror strikes in the country. Most disturbingly, these groups have been using their sleeper cells to carry out such attacks.

Formed under the leadership of Masood Azhar in Karachi’s Binori Mosque, JeM emerged in the months following the infamous Kandahar hijacking episode (IC 814) in Dec 1999 and subsequent terrorists/hostages exchanges. Masood Azhar, who has masterminded many high profile suicide attacks in India, exerts direct control over terror training camps at Balakot in Pakistan’s restive North West Frontier Province. Having direct affiliations with al- Qaeda and Taliban militants, JeM became the first of the terrorist groups to adopt suicide terror tactics in India when they targeted the J&K State Legislative Assembly on 1 Oct 2001 and again on 13 Dec 2001 fidayeen attack on Indian Parliament.

JeM was involved in many high-profile suicide attacks in Pakistan as well and fought along with Taliban and Lashkar-e -Jhangvi. Maulana Abdul Jabbar, commander of the JeM, masterminded at least three suicide attacks in Pakistan (considered to be the first of their kind in that country), which targeted Christian centers (a church in Islamabad's diplomatic enclave on March 17, a Christian school near Murree on August 5 and Christian hospital in Taxila on August 9) in 2002. Jabbar’s hand was also suspected in the attacks on President Pervez Musharraf. The pan Islamic agenda of JeM came to the fore when the group joined hands with al-Qaeda sometimes in August last year, along with LeJ, to increase terrorist activities, targeting Pakistan Army, pro-Musharraf politicians and government installations. One Abu Ali Tunisi had masterminded this coalition of terror groups.

The Jaish leadership reportedly met at Bahawalpur in Pakistan late April (26) 2008 to rename and revitalize the outfit. The small city, believed to be the Headquarters of JeM, came into the news when Rashid Rauf, the alleged mastermind behind the plot to blow up at least 10 transantlantic planes, was arrested from Bahawalpur in early August 2006. Even though the Rawalpindi court dropped terrorism charges against Rauf late that year, his connection with JeM and its leadership is out in the open. Prior to Rauf’s case, JeM’s complicity in the murder of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl brought the group even more notoriety.

JeM was re-designated as ‘Foreign Terrorist Organizations’ along with other 44 terrorist outfits by the US state department on April 08, 2008.

What is it that makes the JeM so resilient? With active support from Pakistan’s secret services and international terror networks, JeM and its leadership have been operating freely in Pakistan’s territory since February 2000. Besides Bahawalpur, the outfit is also based in both Peshawar and Muzaffarabad, Pakistan. The outfit has an imposing presence in Pakistan’s Darra Adam Khel area (NWFP), along with Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), LeT and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

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