Kashmir: A beautiful land littered with militant organisations

Azhar Qadri in Srinagar

In 2013, the insurgency in Kashmir was at its lowest ebb. The number of militants had fallen to single digits — only eight new men were recruited and only two groups were surviving. Six years later, in 2019, the shrinking insurgent landscape has changed. Even as 600 militants were killed in past three years, their numbers remain highest in a decade. The militant groups present in Kashmir valley have proliferated to seven. While two formerly defunct groups surfaced and their cadres were killed by security forces last year, two new groups have also emerged. 

The significant increase in the number of militant organisations has coincided with the rising number of readily available recruits, who have swelled the militant ranks despite these groups suffering large number of casualties.

Hizbul Mujahideen (HM)

Formative years: The group was formed in 1990 with a focus on consolidating a base for Pakistani sympathisers in Kashmir. The group’s ideological core revolved around Jamaat-e-Islami, a socio-religious group that disowned itself from HM in 1997 after it faced a withering onslaught from a pro-India militia. HM also rivalled for influence against pro-independence JKLF, which had pioneered the insurgency and the two groups slid into deadly internecine battles leading to dissolution of JKLF’s armed campaign.

Founder: Ahsan Dar, a former teacher, founded HM and also served as its first chief commander. He was removed in 1991 by section of Jamaat-e-Islami loyalists. Former politician and Jamaat-e-Islami member Mohammad Yusuf Shah aka Syed Salahuddin became its new chief.

Leadership: Syed Salahuddin, a resident of central Kashmir’s Budgam district, has served as HM’s chief commander for nearly three decades. He is based in Pakistan. The group’s cadre inside Kashmir valley work under the command of Field Operations’ Commander. Riyaz Naikoo, a resident of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, is currently the group’s chief in Kashmir.

Splits: HM has faced multiple ideological splits since its formation. The first happened when a group within HM commanded by Nasir-ul-Islam opposed the move to transform the group into armed wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. Nasir-ul-Islam then founded Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen in 1990 and described it as the “armed wing of Islam”. In 2000, the group suffered a major split over ceasefire that later led to collapse of its command structure in Kashmir valley. In 2015, HM suffered another split when its divisional commander for north Kashmir, Abdul Qayoom Najar, formed Lashkar-e-Islam. In 2017, the group’s divisional commander for south Kashmir, Zakir Musa, threatened separatists for describing Kashmir’s separatist struggle as a political movement and then formed Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.

Strength: HM strength peaked in 1992 when its cadre was believed to be several thousands in number. The group, however, had fallen to less than 20 members in 2013. Its current strength is believed to be 100-120. It lost nearly 60 militants last year. 

Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)

Formative years: JeM was formed in January 2000 and its ideological core is based on the Hanafi strand of Islam. The group introduced militant-driven car bombs in the Valley and carried out the first such attack in April 2000, which also signalled its arrival on the region’s militant landscape. JeM carried out a series of fidayeen and suicide car bomb attacks, including attacks on Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar and Parliament in New Delhi during its initial years. The group was banned by Pakistani government in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks, which led to sharp decrease in its attacks in Kashmir.

Founders: JeM was founded by Masood Azhar, a militant cleric, within days of his release in exchange for the hijacked IC-814 Indian Airlines plane in December 1999. He has been critical of Pakistan’s policies but remains loyal to the Pakistani state.

Leadership: Ghazi Baba was the first major commander of JeM and was the mastermind of a wave of fidayeen and suicide car bombs that the group carried in its initial years. He was killed in August 2003 and the group then slowly disappeared in Kashmir valley as it was banned in Pakistan. Mufti Waqas led the group’s resurgence in Kashmir in 2014-15 with a series of deadly fidayeen attacks before he was killed in March 2018. He was succeeded by Kamran, a foreign national, suspected to be the mastermind of Pulwama highway blast in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.  He was killed in a fierce gunfight on February 18.

Splits: JeM suffered major splits in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack and several of its commanders switched sides to fight wars in Afghanistan and inside Pakistan. Its militants were also found involved in suicide attacks against Pervez Musharaf.

Strength: The group was almost written off from the militant landscape in Kashmir in 2013 when almost all its cadres in the region had been killed. The group, however, has made a slow comeback since 2014 and established safe houses across south Kashmir, where it also found a steady trickle of recruits. The group’s existing number in Kashmir is estimated to be around 60. Nearly 35 of its members were killed last year.

Ansar Ghawat-ul-Hind (AGH)

Formative years: AGH is one of the newest militant groups in Kashmir and was formed in 2017. The group is still in infancy and has remained restricted to south Kashmir region. The group was born out of feud between HM’s Pakistan-based leadership and its south Kashmir commander Zakir Musa. The group was formed when a major ideological split emerged in the separatist camp following Musa’s threat to separatist leaders against delinking Islam from the separatist movement. HM distanced itself from Musa’s statement; in turn, Musa distanced himself from HM. Months later, he formed a new militant group that appears to draw inspiration from Al Qaeda. However, the exact link and affiliation between AGH and Al Qaeda is not known. 

Founder: AGH was founded by Zakir Musa, a young militant commander who succeeded Burhan Wani. Musa is one of the longest surviving militants in Kashmir and has emerged as a prolific ideologue within the Islamist sections. 

Leadership: Since its formation nearly two years ago, AGH has been led by Zakir Musa. The group’s deputy chief Mohammad Soliha was killed along with five AGH militants in November last year. Its two foreign commanders — Abu Dujana, who was previously with Lashkar-e-Toiba, and Abu Hamas, who was previously with Hizbul Mujahideen — were killed in separate gunfights in August 2017 and March last year respectively. 

Strength: The group has attracted cadre from Hizbul Mujahideen as well as Lashkar-e-Toiba and has also recruited several new members since its formation. Its eight members were killed in 2017 and 10 last year. The group’s existing number is estimated to be four but its exact strength is in its ideological outreach for which it has pioneered use of audio-visual statements.

Tehreek-ul-Muhadeen (TuM)

TuM was formed in 1990 by Yunus Khan and the organisation was ideologically centred around Ahl-e-Hadees’ interpretation of Islam. The group suffered major setbacks in its early years when Khan was killed in a gunfight in 1991. The group’s most prominent member, Abdul Gani Dar alias Gazali, was arrested in March 2002 in Srinagar. Sheikh Jamil-ur-Rehman is the current chief of the group and is based in Pakistan. It remained defunct for nearly a decade and its recent recruitment attempts went bad as several of its cadres split to form a cell linked to Islamic State group. It recruited three youth in October last year, two of whom were immediately killed and one was arrested.

Al Badr

The group is headquartered in Pakistan where it is headed by Bakht Zaman. The group’s ideological core is based around Jamaat-e-Islami and it was initially formed to recruit foreign militants. It gave Hizbul Mujahideen, which also had ideological roots in Jamaat-e-Islami, an excuse to maintain a semblance of indigenous character. Al Badr remained defunct for more than a decade and made a comeback in 2018 when two of its militants were killed in north Kashmir last year. In January, the group suffered a major setback when Zeenat-ul-Islam, a militant commander who was previously affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen and had joined Al Badr late last year, was killed alongwith another associate in Kulgam district.

Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK)

A nascent militant group, which claims inspiration from as well as affiliation with the Iraq-based militant group Islamic State, came into formation in 2017. It lost eight militants last year, including its three commanders. The group suffered major setbacks in establishing itself as it wantonly practiced takfir — declaring another Muslim as a non-believer. The group is currently believed to be in disarray.

Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)

Formative years: The group was formed in Pakistan as the armed wing of Markaz Dawah wal Irshad and its ideological core is based on Ahle Hadees’ interpretation of Islam. In the mid-1990s, LeT entered Kashmir conflict and, in 1999, pioneered the fidayeen attacks in Kashmir when its cadre stormed a paramilitary camp in Bandipora district. Since then, the group has carried out dozens of fidayeen attacks against security forces’ installations across Kashmir valley.

Founders: The group was founded by Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed and is reported to be headquartered in Muridke near Lahore in Pakistan. Sayeed is a staunch Pakistan loyalist and had formed a party last year to contest election.

Leadership: The group’s leadership inside Kashmir has remained exclusively with Pakistani nationals. Its first major commander operated under multiple aliases of Bilal, Salahuddin and Haider and was instrumental in carrying out a wave of fidayeen attacks in the early years of the last decade and operated from Bandipora. Abdullah Uni was another major commander who operated from Sopore. Abdul Rehman and Abu Qasim operated from south Kashmir.

Split: The group suffered a major split in 2017 when its commander in Kashmir, Abu Dujana, joined Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. It caused major distress in LeT, which named Abu Ismail as the new chief, who died within months. Since then the group has slid into backdrop with no significant commander being able to anchor the group’s operations.

Strength: It continues to remain one of the largest militant groups in Kashmir valley and its cadre strength is estimated to be 100 to 150. The group has presence across north, central and south Kashmir. It lost nearly 60 militants last year.