LJA in league with Daesh claims Quetta attack

Islamabad

Although the presence of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi (LJA) remained very visible during Muharram by claiming different attacks. 

However, the attack in Quetta’s police training centre Tuesday targeting 60 young cadets is the biggest ever terror act jointly carried out by LJA and Daesh or ISIS.

“We along with Daesh (Dolat-e-Islamia) have jointly carried out this attack,” the spokesman of the group who introduced himself as Ali bin Sufyan told this correspondent after the attack.

Apparently LJA remained a key associate in the Quetta attack. Although this group names itself as LJA but actually this group has captured the space of banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) and re-emerged with a new name ‘Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al Almi’ (LJA), keeping with the tradition of militant groups surviving under different names and continuing to pose threats to the public and law-enforcement authorities, The News learnt.

Although the structure of Daesh is still secret however the ingredients of LJA have exclusively been obtained by this correspondent.

After the sectarian attack in Wah Cantt during Muharram, Rawalpindi police have recommended home department Punjab and National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) for declaring this group as defunct, the sources in the department claim.

During the ongoing month of Muharram, the same group had claimed the responsibility of at least three attacks in Quetta, Wah Cantt and Karachi targeting members of a minority sect giving a clear message of its active mode to the law- enforcement authorities.

Previously, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was one of the most deadly militant groups in the country and had been affiliated with al- Qaeda.

Initially it was claimed that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) has completely been eliminated from the country following a controversial police encounter last year on July 29 in which chief of defunct LJ Malik Ishaq was killed along with four key leaders of different tiers of his organisation. However, to the embarrassment of the police and security establishment, the lethal organisation proved its presence and hit back within the span of 17 days.

Defunct LJ avenged the police encounter on August 16, 2015 in Attock when they sent their suicide bomber which hit Punjab Home Minister Col Shuja Khanzada (retd) at his residence in his hometown. In the terror attack, LJA took part along with another militant organisation.

The independent experts on terrorism also believe that the organisation has taken a rebirth following its previous traditions. “LeJ reorganised and nurtured a new leadership more than twice during last few years. The killing of LJ leaders, including its founder Riaz Basra in 2002, provided a brief lull in sectarian killings. But in 2004, a new wave started which receded in 2008 when its new leaders were killed. Yet again, a sudden rise in sectarian killings was observed in 2010 when a new leadership, including Asif Chotu and Naeem Bukhari, took over the group. This leadership proved more lethal.

“This is a new birth of the group and it can trigger a wave of sectarian violence,” says Amir Rana the author, ‘A to Z of Jihadis in Pakistan’ and director of Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS).

The main difference between LJ and LJA is that the first one was only targeting a minority group in the country but the latter is two steps ahead of the first one as it has also included law-enforcement agencies and government installations on its hit list. Quetta attack is a yet another example. The group has almost six key leaders in its main shoora and it claims number of 300 as its followers, if it’s true then a very scary situation is laying ahead for the rest of the country.

The sources claim that currently the organisation is headed by a person named Syed Safdar s/o Syed Asad Ali and known as Yousaf Mansoor Khurasani. 

Yousaf Mansoor belonging to Karachi is also wanted by Karachi Police and Rangers for his alleged involvement in different sectarian terror attacks in the metropolitan city of Sindh. Although the head of the militant organisation hails from Karachi but most of its members are from tribal areas that once remained in Miramshah but currently the group has its heavy presence in Balochistan.

The LJA was first formed soon after 9/11 after the then military government decided to side with the United States against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The organisation was a separate entity from main LJ and was founded by Abid Iqbal Mehsud, who hailed from South Waziristan’s Barwand town. 

However, LJA remained closely in touch with LJ. The only difference between LJ and LJA was this that the LJ would always hit a specific sect whereas the LJA would also hit the security agencies.

The militant circles claim that this was the same group which had kidnapped Col Sultan Amir Tarrar (retd) alias Col Imam, ex-ISI officer Khalid Khawaja along with a journalist Asad Qureshi in March 2010. 

Later Imam and Khawaja were brutally killed by the group and Asad Qureshi was released from the captivity reportedly paying a heavy amount through Fazlur Rehman Khalil currently the Amir of Ansarul Ummah.

After the killing of Col Imam and ex-ISI officer Khalid Khawaja reportedly the first founder of LJA was killed during an internal fight between different defunct Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and LJA in October 2010. 

Following this incident, the group chose Yahya Afridi as its next commander who soon got killed along with his four accomplices in Sadda area of Kurram Agency.

After the murder of their third commander, the group again selected their commander named Shaukat Mehsud, who too was from South Waziristan, however, due to the operation in the South and some key arrests the group turned inactive.

The sources claim that the current head of the defunct LJA Yousaf Mansoor Khurasani once remained in the custody of law-enforcement agencies. After his release, he was selected as the Amir of LJA and now he is operating from undisclosed locations.

The sources claim that the group has formed four squads for Punjab, Sindh, KP and Balochistan. The group in Punjab is called Riaz Basra Brigade, Sindh chapter is named as Afia Sidiqqui Brigade. Likewise, the group has named its KP chapter as Baitullah Mehsud Brigade and in Balochistan they have named it after Ghazi Abdul Rashid (Ghazi Rashid Brigade) of Lal Masjid who died fighting the security forces during Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad.

The sources claim that the group has filled the sectarian violence vacuum left by LJ in Punjab; a latest alert issued by the Punjab home department said the LJA is planning to attack Shias in Faisalabad during Muharram. 

Alert also reflects that Punjab government is also alert regarding the group. However, they are not aware of the structure and the details about the group.

The group has previously carried out suicide missions, attacks on security forces. The same group is named in Nishtar Park attack and attacks on FC and military in Quetta besides killing prominent sectarian individuals like Khurram Zaki etc.

The sources claim that since the group is closely linked with al-Qaeda and has proved its presence after carrying out attacks in Wah Cantt, in the suburbs of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. These small incidents are the rebirth of the sectarian organisation LJ in the name of LJA thus the possibility of bigger attacks cannot be ruled out by the group.