Abdul Rauf Azhar

Abdul Rauf is a Pakistani Deobandi fundamentalist Islamist militant commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Deobandi Islamist militant organization which has carried out Islamist militant activities in India & Afghanistan under the support of Pakistan's main intelligence agency.^[2][3][4][5]

Abdul Rauf Azhar
Personal details
Born	Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni
Movement	Deobandi
Military service
Allegiance	Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami[1]
Rank	Supreme Commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed
Battles/wars	Kashmir conflict Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir War in Afghanistan

Involvement in hijacking of Indian Airlines

The Abdul Rauf Azhar is involved in the hijacking of an Indian Airlines Flight 814 under the support of Pakistan's main intelligence agency and Taliban to secure the release of 36 Islamist jihadists held in prison in India – fellow Harkat-ul-Mujahideen members specially for his older brother Masood Azhar including two jihadists like Ahmed Omar Saeed and Mushtaq Ahmed. The hostage crisis lasted for seven days and ended after India agreed to release the three jihadists out of 36 jihadists, In 2000 the jihadists formed a new outfit named as, Jaish-e-Mohammed and have since been implicated in other militant actions, such as the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, 2002 kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, 2016 Pathankot attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack. The Abdul Rauf Azhar is one of the most wanted person in India due to his history of activities against India.^[6][1]

Command of Jaish-e-Mohammed

Abdul Rauf Azhar took command of the Jaish-e-Mohammed on 21 April 2007, when his older brother, Maulana Masood Azhar its former leader, went underground under the support of Pakistan's main intelligence agency.^[2]

Activities in Islamabad

In 2009 the BBC News reported Rauf was one of the leaders summoned to Islamabad to help the Pakistani government negotiate with hostage-takers who had seized 42 civilians.^[3]

Designation as a terrorist

On 2 December 2010, the United States Treasury designated Abdul Rauf Azhar as a terrorist.^[7]

Links with other militant organisations

JeM commander Azhar maintains strong ties with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Haqqani network sharing their training camps in Afghanistan, and exchanging intelligence, training and coordination.^[8][9]

Links with political organisations

JeM commander Azhar had strong ties with these Islamist political organisations Milli Muslim League, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S), Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek, Sipah-e-Sahaba and also had ties with Difa-e-Pakistan Council the anti-NATO Pakistani umbrella coalition including links with ISI-sponsored United Jihad Council, an umbrella organisation of 13–16 separatist organisations that fight in Indian-administered Kashmir.^[10]

See also

• Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar
• Ahmed Omar Sheikh
• Ilyas Kashmiri
• Osama bin laden
• Zakir Rashid Bhat

References

1. Gutman, Roy (18 January 2020). How We Missed the Story: Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban, and the Hijacking of ... – Roy Gutman – Google Books. US Institute of Peace Press. ISBN 9781601270245. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020.
2. "Jaish-e-Mohammed (Army of the Prophet)". Institute for Conflict Management. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. The outlawed JeM is reportedly re-organising itself under its new commander Mufti Abdul Rauf, younger brother of the outfit's chief Maulana Masood Azhar.
3. Amir Mir (16 October 2009). "Pakistan Army roped in jehadis to hold talks with GHQ hostage takers". Middle East Transparent. Retrieved 25 March 2015. Special planes were subsequently dispatched to Lahore, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan to bring to Rawalpindi Malik Ishaq, a jailed leader of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Mufti Abdul Rauf, the younger brother of Maulana Masood Azhar who is the acting ameer of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, the chief of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, to hold talks with the hostage takers. Mirror. Archived 2014-02-20 at the Wayback Machine.
4. "US sanctions three Pak terrorists". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. 4 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. US has slapped sanctions against three Pakistan-based key terrorists leaders, including Abdul Rauf Azhar the top commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed in India, who in 2008 was assigned to organise suicide attacks in the country.
5. "Mufti Abdul Rauf New Commander; Reorganizing Terror Group Jaish E Mohammad". India Defence. 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. According to the Daily Times—a leading Pakistani daily—Mufti Abdul Rauf has taken upon himself the task of spearheading the reorganisation of the militant body after Maulana Azhar went underground following two suicide attacks on President General Pervez Musharraf.
6. Dhawan, Himanshi (2017). "ISI backed Kandahar hijackers: Plane crisis negotiator Ajit Doval". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
7. Bill Roggio (2 December 2010). "US designates Pakistan-based leaders of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammed as terrorists". Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 7 December 2010. Azhar has been identified by the Treasury Department as 'a senior leader' of JeM who 'has urged Pakistanis to engage in militant activities.' In 2007, Azhar served as JeM's 'acting leader'.
8. Popovic, Milos (2015), "The Perils of Weak Organization: Explaining Loyalty and Defection of Militant Organizations Toward Pakistan", Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 38 (11): 925, doi:10.1080/1057610X.2015.1063838, S2CID 108668097
9. "Pakistan-based terror group JeM, LeT maintain training camps in Afghanistan: UN report". The Tribune. 30 May 2022. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022. The report cites a UN Member State as saying that JeM 'maintains eight training camps in Nangarhar, three of which are directly under Taliban control'.
10. Snedden, Christopher (2013) [first published as The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir, 2012], Kashmir: The Unwritten History, HarperCollins India, p. 198, ISBN 978-9350298985