http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...Laden-during-Pak-stay/articleshow/8983928.cms
NEW DELHI: Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, the terrorist organization that may have provided logistical support to Osama bin Laden, exemplifies the story of Pakistan-backed terrorism fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 80s, Indian troops in Kashmir in the 90s and now backing al-Qaida's global jihad while continuing to enjoy the patronage of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.
According to latest US reports, Osama's trusted couriers were in touch with HuM cadres, who may have provided logistical assistance to ensure a trouble-free life for the al-Qaida chief in Abbottabad. US investigators have also found that those HuM cadres, in turn, were in touch with ISI officials.
HuM's footprints were visible in some of the most sensational terror acts in Kashmir and elsewhere in India through the 90s, including in the hijack of IC814 Indian Airlines aircraft in 1999. It also successfully carried out kidnapping of foreigners, both within Kashmir and outside.
Over the past two decades, HuM evolved from being an Afghan insurgent group to a Kashmiri militant group and back to being part of the global jihad led by al-Qaida. This new-found passion for global jihad, as well as the lack of local support for militancy in Kashmir, may have distracted HuM from the J&K front.
But in the past, many of the most significant acts of terror in Kashmir were executed by HuM in its various avatars. In 1993, HuM merged with HuJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami) and formed Harkat-ul-Ansar. The organization named itself Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in 1997 after the US named it a terrorist organization.
In 1994, the group carried out two major kidnappings of foreigners, one in Kashmir and the other in the national capital. Both times, the intent was to ensure the release of their jailed comrades including Maulana Masood Azhar, who finally found freedom in 1999, swapped for the passengers of IC814 aircraft. The IC814 hijack was the last sensational act of the original cadres of HuM, many Indian investigators believe. The hijack ended in the release of three terrorists, two of them being leading HuM terrorists Azhar and Omar Saeed Sheikh.
Azhar, who later founded Jaish-e-Mohammed, was arrested in Srinagar in February 1994. Omar was arrested a few months later after he had kidnapped four foreigners from Delhi, and was bargaining for the release of Azhar and others. In April 2002, a Delhi court awarded death sentences to three members of Harkat-ul-Ansar who were arrested in that kidnapping case, even as both Azhar and Omar were back in Pakistan, after their release in the hijack case.
Within months of the Delhi kidnapping, HuM cadres were to execute another deadly kidnapping operation in Kashmir. They were behind al-Faran, an obscure militant group that kidnapped five foreign tourists in Kashmir in July 1995. Hans Christian Ostro was killed within a month, while the other four were probably killed by the end of 1995, according to officials.
In 1999, the group was to return with its capability to plan big operations, this time hijacking the IC814 aircraft from Kathmandu while it was en route to New Delhi. Many seasoned Kashmiri hands believe that the kidnapping was the handiwork of HuM cadres, because in the final bargain, they ensured the release of two senior HuM terrorists Azhar and omar, along with Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.
In September 2001, after the 9/11 attacks in the US, the Bush administration declared HuM a terrorist organization. But its leader Fazlur Rehman Khalil and his many supporters continue to enjoy a life of freedom in Pakistan.
NEW DELHI: Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, the terrorist organization that may have provided logistical support to Osama bin Laden, exemplifies the story of Pakistan-backed terrorism fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 80s, Indian troops in Kashmir in the 90s and now backing al-Qaida's global jihad while continuing to enjoy the patronage of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.
According to latest US reports, Osama's trusted couriers were in touch with HuM cadres, who may have provided logistical assistance to ensure a trouble-free life for the al-Qaida chief in Abbottabad. US investigators have also found that those HuM cadres, in turn, were in touch with ISI officials.
HuM's footprints were visible in some of the most sensational terror acts in Kashmir and elsewhere in India through the 90s, including in the hijack of IC814 Indian Airlines aircraft in 1999. It also successfully carried out kidnapping of foreigners, both within Kashmir and outside.
Over the past two decades, HuM evolved from being an Afghan insurgent group to a Kashmiri militant group and back to being part of the global jihad led by al-Qaida. This new-found passion for global jihad, as well as the lack of local support for militancy in Kashmir, may have distracted HuM from the J&K front.
But in the past, many of the most significant acts of terror in Kashmir were executed by HuM in its various avatars. In 1993, HuM merged with HuJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami) and formed Harkat-ul-Ansar. The organization named itself Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in 1997 after the US named it a terrorist organization.
In 1994, the group carried out two major kidnappings of foreigners, one in Kashmir and the other in the national capital. Both times, the intent was to ensure the release of their jailed comrades including Maulana Masood Azhar, who finally found freedom in 1999, swapped for the passengers of IC814 aircraft. The IC814 hijack was the last sensational act of the original cadres of HuM, many Indian investigators believe. The hijack ended in the release of three terrorists, two of them being leading HuM terrorists Azhar and Omar Saeed Sheikh.
Azhar, who later founded Jaish-e-Mohammed, was arrested in Srinagar in February 1994. Omar was arrested a few months later after he had kidnapped four foreigners from Delhi, and was bargaining for the release of Azhar and others. In April 2002, a Delhi court awarded death sentences to three members of Harkat-ul-Ansar who were arrested in that kidnapping case, even as both Azhar and Omar were back in Pakistan, after their release in the hijack case.
Within months of the Delhi kidnapping, HuM cadres were to execute another deadly kidnapping operation in Kashmir. They were behind al-Faran, an obscure militant group that kidnapped five foreign tourists in Kashmir in July 1995. Hans Christian Ostro was killed within a month, while the other four were probably killed by the end of 1995, according to officials.
In 1999, the group was to return with its capability to plan big operations, this time hijacking the IC814 aircraft from Kathmandu while it was en route to New Delhi. Many seasoned Kashmiri hands believe that the kidnapping was the handiwork of HuM cadres, because in the final bargain, they ensured the release of two senior HuM terrorists Azhar and omar, along with Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.
In September 2001, after the 9/11 attacks in the US, the Bush administration declared HuM a terrorist organization. But its leader Fazlur Rehman Khalil and his many supporters continue to enjoy a life of freedom in Pakistan.
