Factbox: Major militant groups in Pakistan

A large number of non-Afghan foreign militants, including Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks and Chinese, as well as Muslim militants from the West, are also based in Pakistan's northwest, mainly in North Waziristan.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Reuters | Asia
By Sanjeev Miglani | May 5, 2011

(Reuters) - The killing of Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town has refocused global attention on militant groups operating out of Pakistan and which threaten not only Western and Indian interests but also Pakistan itself.

Here are some facts about some of the major militant groups in Pakistan's northwestern Pashtun tribal region as well as in the heartland province of Punjab and further south in Baluchistan.


LASHKAR-E-TAIBA

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Punjab-based group which long focused on fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. It was founded in 1990 and began operations in Kashmir in 1993.

It was blamed for the coordinated attacks on the Indian financial capital, Mumbai, in November in 2008 that killed 166 people. LeT was also blamed for the late 2001 Indian parliament attack along with another Punjab-based group and was banned in Pakistan in 2002.

It has not been blamed for attacks inside Pakistan. But of all the groups operating out of Pakistan, it is seen as the one with the reach and ambition to strike targets in the West. It has been linked to the London suicide attacks of 2005 in which one of the bombers received training at its camp several years before, and suspected of providing some logistical support to would be "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid in 2001.

TEHRIK-E-TALIBAN PAKISTAN (TTP)

TTP, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, is the main Pakistani militant alliance which operates from Pakistan's northwest. It has links with al Qaeda as well as the Punjabi groups and is suspected of being behind most bomb and suicide attacks across Pakistan. Led by Hakimullah Mehsud, a brutal militant commander, Pakistani Taliban insurgents are also fighting the Pakistan army in the northwest. TTP also claimed responsibility for being behind the botched New York bomb plot.

JAISH-E-MOHAMMAD

Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), or Army of the Prophet Mohammad, is a major militant group with links to the Taliban and al Qaeda and based in Punjab. It was banned in Pakistan in 2002 after it was blamed for an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001.

The group initially focused its fighting on the Indian part of divided Kashmir, but forged links with al Qaeda and the Taliban and is suspected of involvement in high profile attacks, including the murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

A Pakistan security source said that its members had gone into hiding or have split into factions. He estimates its active ranks at about 5,000, with about 1,500-2,000 fighters.

LASHKAR-E-JHANGVI

Sunni Muslim Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) is one of the most notorious al Qaeda-linked groups with roots in Punjab. It has also forged strong ties with the Pakistani Taliban groups operating in the tribal areas on the Afghan border.

LeJ emerged as a sectarian group in the 1990s, targeting minority Shi'ite Muslims, but graduated to more audacious attacks, like the truck bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel in 2008 in which 55 people were killed. It is also blamed for an assault on Sri Lanka's cricket team in which seven Pakistanis were killed. Six team members and a British coach were wounded.

LeJ was outlawed in Pakistan in August 2001. Members are also involved in violence in Afghanistan.

SIPAH-E-SAHABA PAKISTAN (SSP)

SSP is a pro-Taliban, anti-Shi'ite militant group based in central Punjab. The group was banned in 2002, but officials say its members were suspected of involvement in attacks in the province, including the burning to death of eight Christians on suspicions of blasphemy last year.

HAQQANI NETWORK

Headed by Afghan Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Haqqani network is allied with the Afghan Taliban and is believed to have close links to al Qaeda. It fights foreign forces in eastern Afghanistan, operating out of bases in Pakistan's North Waziristan.

Haqqani rose to prominence in Afghanistan during the 1980s, receiving weapons and funds from the CIA and Saudi Arabia to fight the Soviet occupation and has also had long-standing links with Pakistan's military Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Effective leadership of the group has now passed from Jalaluddin, who is in his 70s, to his more radical eldest son Sirajuddin, security analysts say.

QUETTA SHURA

The Quetta Shura is the remains of the Afghan Taliban government overthrown and driven into Pakistan by the 2001 American invasion of Afghanistan.

Headed by Mullah Omar, the so-called "Commander of the Faithful," it is believed to be based in the city of Quetta in Baluchistan province near the southern Afghan border.

Omar eschews attacks inside Pakistan and, like his Haqqani allies, follows an Afghanistan-centered campaign against NATO and American forces.

AL QAEDA-LINKED MILITANTS

A large number of non-Afghan foreign militants, including Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks and Chinese, as well as Muslim militants from the West, are also based in Pakistan's northwest, mainly in North Waziristan. (Compiled by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Robert Birsel)


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