Hizbul Mujahideen

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen حزب المجاھدین
Participant in Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
File:Hizbul Mujahideen logo.png Hizbul Mujahideen Logo
Active	1989-present
Ideology	Kashmiri nationalism, Islamism, Islamic fundamentalism
Leaders	Sayeed Salahudeen Abdul Hanan Baig Ghazi Nasiruddin Muhammad Ahsan Dar
Headquarters	Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan
Area of operations	Kashmir
Strength	15000
Allies	Pakistan Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin Lashkar-e-Taiba Harkat ul-Ansar
Opponents	India
Website	hizbulmujahideen.webs.com

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (Arabic language: حزب المجاھدین‎, Ḥizb al-Mujāhidīn, meaning "Party of Holy Warriors" or "Party of Mujahideen"), founded by Ahsan Dar in 1985, is a Kashmiri separatist group designated as a terrorist organization by India and the European Union active in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. The current supreme commander of the group is a Kashmiri known under the alias of Sayeed Salahudeen.

Sayeed Salahudeen is at present located in Pakistan.[1] The media often reports his whereabouts in Azad Kashmir or in Northern Punjab. The Indian government has requested the Pakistani government extradite Sayeed Salahudeen.[2] However in recent times a well known news agency conducted an interview with the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, where the leader claimed that the government of Pakistan would never hand him over to the Indian authorities.^{[citation needed]}

Although Sayeed Salahudeen is a citizen of Indian administered Kashmir, he is known to have resided in towns located around important cities like Karachi and Peshawar, sources claim that this pattern is followed for two main reasons,

1. Many sources claim that Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leader maintains continuous contact with the Intelligence agency of Pakistan, ISI.^{[citation needed]} These towns are used as meeting places where important information regarding Kashmir switches hands along with funding required to conduct militant training camps.
2. Although the Indian parliament has not sanctioned covert operations across the LOC, the constant fear of a covert raid by the Indian Special Forces deters Sayeed Salahudeen from entering Azad Kashmir frequently.

Pakistan's support

“	We are fighting Pakistan's war in Kashmir and if it withdraws its support, the war would be fought inside Pakistan,	”
—Sayeed Salahudeen (leader of Hizbul Mujahideen)

In June 2012 in an interview, Salahuddin accepted that Pakistan had been backing Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Kashmir. He warned of attacks in Pakistan if Pakistan stopped backing jihadis in Jammu and Kashmir who, he claimed, were fighting Pakistan's war.

In September 4, 2013 Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Talib Lali was arrested from his native Ajas in Bandipore by security forces.

See also

• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
• Lashkar-e-Toiba

External links

• Profile: Hizbul Mujahideen GlobalSecurity.org
• Official Journal of the European Union: Terrorism list
• Congressional Report: The New Islamist International(from FAS site) Bill McCollum, United States House of Representatives, Republican Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, 1 February 1993
• BBC Reports:Militants arrested in Bombay
• ABC Live Reports: Hizbul Mujahideen claimed Blast Left 1 Killed And 22 injured In Jammu Kashmir