LeT operating in Afghanistan, analysts say

Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani-based banned group with ties to al-Qaeda, is one of the more worrisome "jihadist" organisations threatening peace in South Asia, they say.

Analysts have termed the Pakistan-based militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) a militant network that is closely linked with al-Qaeda and has been engaged in Afghanistan since the days of Taliban. "It’s a very ruthless organisation," Peshawar-based analyst and author Aqeel Yusufzai told Central Asia Online. "Even the Taliban once protested the atrocities committed by LeT members in northern Afghanistan."

LeT beyond Pakistan's borders

"Of all the Pakistani militant organisations, LeT is the front-line outfit engaged in Afghanistan," Yusufzai, the author of several books on militancy in the Pakistani-Afghan border zone, said. He cited an arrest that occurred in April 2013. Afghan forces had detained a senior LeT leader during an operation in Ghazni Province, which serves as a major conduit for infiltration of insurgents from Pakistan into Afghanistan, Pakistani media reported at the time. The LeT leader, whom authorities did not identify but reportedly was Pakistani, is suspected of involvement in a terrorist attack that killed 13 Afghan soldiers in Kunar April 13. And Lahore-based senior analyst, Mubashir Bukhari, said the network does harbour a global "jihadist" agenda. "In 1998, Hafiz Saeed, co-founder of LeT, in a sermon in Lahore said LeT would hoist Pakistan's flag in [other countries] and would wage jihad against oppressors everywhere in the world," Bukhari said.

Ties to al-Qaeda LeT is reportedly serving as a recruiting agent for al-Qaeda, too, though Bukhari said the evidence isn't conclusive. One thing that is certain, though, is LeT's ties to al-Qaeda. LeT was started by the late Dr. Abdullah Azzam, known as the "Father of Global Jihad" and founder of Maktabul Khidamat, which evolved into al-Qaeda. And in the 1990s, reports surfaced that Osama bin Laden attended annual congregations of LeT and had financed the militant network, Bukhari said. Aoun Sahi, an Islamabad-based journalist who has written about terror networks, agreed, calling LeT and al-Qaeda natural allies. "LeT is the only militant organisation in Pakistan that shares al-Qaeda's Salafi/Wahabi ideology," he said. "LeT is also accused of providing refuge to several al-Qaeda leaders in various cities following 9/11." The ties between the two groups go back to the foundation of the modern militancy, said Hasan Abdullah, a Karachi-based scholar of the militancy and a frequent visitor to Kunar, Afghanistan.

"Many of the Arab fighters [who later emerged as prominent figures in al-Qaeda] spent time in places like Kunar, Zabul and other provinces of Afghanistan," Abdullah told Central Asia Online, adding that the leaders of the two groups have marriage and friendship bonds.

Lately, though, LeT leader Hafiz Saeed has become "one of the most hated figures in al-Qaeda camps," he said, and there have been clashes in Kunar between Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants and LeT-linked Jaish-as-Salafiyah insurgents.

Recruiting youths for extremism

Regardless of how deep the ties to al-Qaeda run, an alleged terrorist who was arrested outside of Pakistan March 22 has said during interrogation that LeT does recruit and train youths in Pakistan.

Zia ur Rehman (aka Waqas) told investigators that he went through a 21-day training regimen called "Daura-a-Aam" when he joined LeT in 2009. He was one of about 25 young men, ages 15 to 20, attending the training camp at the time.

An investigator described the training programme in a media interview when the arrest was announced.

"It started with morning prayers and physical training," the investigator said, citing information Waqas provided during interrogation. "Breakfast was served at 8am, followed by religious classes. After that came training in use of weapons, including the AK-47, INSAS rifles, G2 guns and pistols. They would break for lunch between 12 and 2pm, after which they would learn marksmanship."

After the three-week Daura-a-Aam session, the militants sent Waqas to Waziristan for more-intensive weapons training, the investigator said, though such subsequent training apparently is open only to select recruits.

http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/pakistan-articles/caii/features/pakistan/main/2014/04/03/feature-01