Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami

Pakistani Islamist militant organization

Harkat ul Jihad al Islami (حركة الجهاد الإسلامي, HuJI) is a Pakistani Islamist extremist,

It has been the most active in the South Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India since the early 1990s. The militant organisation has been designated as a terrorist group by India, Israel, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States and Bangladesh when its Bangladesh branch was banned in 2005. The operational commander of HuJI, Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan on 4 June 2011. He was linked to the 13 February 2010 bombing of a German bakery in Pune. A statement was released soon after the attack which claimed to be from Kashmiri; it threatened other cities and major sporting events in India. A local Taliban commander named Shah Sahib was named as Kashmiri's successor.

HuJI or HJI was formed in 1984, during the Soviet–Afghan War, by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Akhtar. Khalil later broke away to form his own group, Harkat ul Ansar (HuA), which became a highly feared militant organisation in Kashmir. This group would later re form as Harkat ul Mujahideen (HuM), when HuA was blacklisted by the United States in 1997. HuJI first mainly operated in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets, but after the Soviets retreated, the organisation also started operating in Jammu and Kashmir. HuJI's influence expanded into Bangladesh when the Bangladeshi branch of the organisation was established in 1992, with direct assistance from Osama bin Laden.

The organisation along with other jihadist terrorist groups such as Harkat ul Mujahideen, Jaish e Mohammed, Al Qaeda & Lashkar e Taiba had similar motivations and goals. Harkat ul Jihad al Islami and Harkat ul Mujahideen were both strongly backed by the Taliban, Al Qaeda & therefore the group professed Taliban style fundamentalist Islamist ideology. The organisation aims to spread Radical Islamist ideology, to take over Kashmir, Afghanistan, Palestine & the rest of Muslim majority lands from what they claim to be "enemies of Islam" and enforce their extremist interpretations of Sharia in all of the mentioned regions. Later on, members of the organisation committed an attack on Shamsur Rahman, a Bangladeshi poet in January 1999. The organisation claimed responsibility for the 2001 Ramna Batamul bombings, where 10 people were killed. The organisation was also the prime suspect in a plot to assassinate the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in the year 2000. In October 2005, it was officially banned by the government of Bangladesh. The group has been condemned by various Islamist groups such as the Hefazat e Islam Bangladesh.

Government of India has declared and banned it as a terrorist organisation. In April 2006, the state police Special Task Force in India uncovered a plot by six HuJI terrorists, including the mastermind behind the 2006 Varanasi bombings, involving the destruction of two Hindu temples in the Indian city of Varanasi. Maps of their plans were recovered during their arrest. The organisation has claimed responsibility for blasts at the Delhi High Court which claimed the lives of 10 and injured around 60. Vikar Ahmed, a member of an Islamist group, and connected to HuJI, has been accused of murdering police officers in Hyderabad. He is also a suspect in the Mecca Masjid bombing. HuJI has claimed responsibility for the 2011 Delhi bombing. However, this has not been confirmed by the National Investigation Agency. 14 people were killed and 94 people were injured in the bomb blast. Police have released two sketches of the suspects. The organisation has also made threats to target other Indian cities.

DateCountryDescription1999BangladeshFailed attempt to assassinate the humanist poet Shamsur Rahman2000BangladeshAlleged failed scheme to assassinate the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina14 April 2001BangladeshPahela Baishakh attack on Ramna Batamul2003IndiaRole in assassination of the former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya.2002 JanuaryIndiaTerror attack near the American Centre in Kolkata, executed in collaboration with the Dawood linked mafioso Aftab Ansari2004Bangladesh2004 Dhaka grenade attack attempt to assassinate Sheikh Hasina2005 JuneIndiaBombing of the Delhi Patna Shramjeevi Express at Jaunpur2005IndiaSuicide bombing of the headquarters of the Andhra Pradesh Police's counter terrorism Special Task Force. A Bangladeshi national, Mohatasin Bilal, had carried out the bombingMarch 2006Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaBombing of the Sankat Mochan temple, which was traced to HuJI's Bangladesh based cells25 August 2007Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India25 August 2007 Hyderabad bombings (suspected, but no evidence revealed as of early September)13 May 2008Jaipur, Rajasthan, India 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings (suspected; evidence pending. )25 July 2008Bangalore, India 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending. )26 July 2008Ahmadabad, India 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending. )13 September 2008Delhi, India 2008 Delhi serial blasts (suspected; evidence pending. )20 September 2008Islamabad, Pakistan 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing (claimed by HuJI; evidence pending. )1 October 2008Agartala, Tripura, India 2008 Agartala bombings (HuJI suspected; evidence pending. )30 October 2008Guwahati, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, India2008 Assam bombings (HuJI suspected; evidence pending. )13 February 2010Pune, India 2010 Pune bombing (HuJI suspected)7 September 2011New Delhi, India 2011 Delhi bombing (claimed by HuJI; evidence pending.)