The United Jihad Council, also known as the Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC), is an Islamist Jihadist organisation formed by the Pakistan Army for unified command and control over the anti-Indian militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir.[1][2] It was formed in the summer of 1994 and is currently[when?] headed by Syed Salahuddin, the leader of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. The organisation was created to unify and focus efforts of various armed militant groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir. This made distribution of resources like arms, ammunition, propaganda materials and communications more streamlined. It also made it easier to coordinate and pool resources of various militant groups to collect information, plan operations and strike at targets of military importance inside Indian administered Kashmir.[citation needed]
The militant group has 13 affiliates.[3] Some of the group members are: Harakat-ul-Ansar, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Jihad, Al-Barq, Al-Badr, Ikhwan-ul-Mussalmin, and Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen. By early 1999, as many as fifteen organisations were affiliated with the Council, though of these only five were considered influential: Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Badr, and Tehrik-i-Jihad. Many of these organisations are recognised as terrorist organisations by the United States and the UN.[4]
In June 2012 in an interview, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin accepted that Pakistan had been backing Hizbul Mujahideen for fighting in Kashmir.[5] He had threatened to start attacking Pakistan if the latter stopped backing the separatist militants in Jammu and Kashmir. He claimed the militants were fighting "Pakistan's war".[5][6]
We are fighting Pakistan's war in Kashmir and if it withdraws its support, the war would be fought inside Pakistan
The group claimed responsibility for the 2016 Pathankot attack, carried out on Pathankot Air Base administered by the Indian Air Force on 3 January 2016.[7] The incident claimed 14 casualties, including 7 security personnel, 1 civilian, and 6 attackers.
References edit
- ^ International Crisis Group (2002), Kashmir: Confrontation and Miscalculation, International Crisis Group, p. 6
- ^ Snedden 2013, p. 198.
- ^ "United Jihad Council claims responsibility for Pathankot attack". The Hindu. Srinagar. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ "State Department Identifies 40 Foreign Terrorist Organizations". Country Reports on Terrorism 2004. U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
- ^ a b c PTI (8 June 2012). "Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin warns Pakistan against withdrawing support on Kashmir". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ "Normalization of Indo-Pak ties hurts Kashmir cause: Salahuddin". Arab News. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ "Pathankot terror attack Live: United Jihad Council claims responsibility". DNA webdesk. Pathankot. Daily News and Analysis. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
Bibliography edit
- Snedden, Christopher (2013) [first published as The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir, 2012], Kashmir: The Unwritten History, HarperCollins India, ISBN 978-9350298985