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| Terror Networks |
| Pakistan's Jihadists Form A Complex Web of Collaborating Groups |
| 2010-05-08 |
| Pakistan-based terrorist organizations frequently cooperate with each other, and it should come as no surprise that the would-be Times Square bomber may have had dealings there with jihadists from various groups. Reports from Pakistan indicate that Faisal Shahzad may have associated before his abortive May 1 attack not only with the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), but also with militants from at least two groups known for their Kashmir-centric, anti-India agenda, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI). Pakistani media reported that four JeM (“Army of Mohammed') militants had been held for questioning in Pakistan, as part of the Times Square investigation. JeM and HUJI, along with others like Lashkar-e-Toiba/Tayyiba (LeT), Hizb ul-Mujahideen and Harkat ul-Ansar are among the sometimes bewildering array of jihadist groups operating in South Asia. Most have historically focused on fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir, allegedly receiving varying levels of support from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a powerful military agency with a long record of sponsoring militants in both Kashmir and Afghanistan (where it helped to set up the Taliban in the 1990s). Researchers' efforts to track these groups have been complicated by mergers, splits, overlaps and name changes, but what has been clear to them is that there are numerous connections among the organizations, as well as frequent cooperation and even joint operations. What has also become evident is that while Kashmir may have been the founding cause for such groups, they are also part of a broader jihad that views the United States as an enemy and target. For example: |
| Posted by:ed |