Lashkar-e-Tayyba

LeT

12/12/2006

Lashkar-e-Tayyba (also spelled Taiba and Tayiba) is the terrorist wing of the Pakistan-based Islamic religious party, Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad. MDI is an Islamic anti-Christian missionary organization that was formed in 1989.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba (the Army of the Righteous or Pure) is one of the three largest and best-trained terrorist groups murdering and mutilating Hindus, Christians, Communists, and peaceful Muslims in Kashmir. In 1994, the Lashkar-e-Tayyba became one of the primary recipients of funds from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's intelligence agency, after the larger Jamaat-e-Islami and the Hezbul Mujahideen terrorist organizations refused to accept new conditions attached to ISI money. This became one of the primary catalysts for General Musharraf's coup - meaning that he was more prone to terror than his Jamaat-e-Islami political rival.

Lashkar-e-Tayyba's willing support of the ISI's mission of forcing Kashmir into being annexed into Pakistan, curried considerable favor with the Pakistani government. LT also complied with the ISI mission of attacking Hindus, Communists, and Christians in the Jammu Division. But what garnered Lashkar-e-Tayyba the highest marks with the Pakistani authorities was their willingness to assist in training Muslim youth in Pakistan, Kashmir, and the rest of India to be jihadists. As a result, along with the Army of Muhammad and Al Badr, Lashkar-e-Tayyba is thought to be responsible for the majority of the violence in Kashmir.

In December 2001, the United States designated the Pakistani financed Lashkar-e-Tayyba a foreign terrorist organization - while hypocritically designating their support mechanism, the Pakistani government, an ally in the war on terror. So with a new rap sheet, the LT reorganized, separatin its military-sponsored terrorist actions in Kashmir from its Islamic religious undertakings in Pakistan. The LT's new agenda, which was identical to its old mission, was outlined in a pamphlet entitled: Why Are We Waging Jihad? The answer was: "to restore Islamic rule over all of India including Jammu and Kashmir. We seek to bring about a union of all Muslim majority regions in countries that surround Pakistan.".

In harmony with the Pakistan government and its ISI, the Lashkar-e-Tayyba pamphlet propagates Islamic fundamentalism based on the Wahhabi, or Salafi reliance on the oldest scriptural sources - the Qur'an, Sira, Ta'rikh, and Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim. Lashkar-e-Tayyba agenda includes the imposition of Wahhabi Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia Law in Pakistan and all countries surrounding the Land of Pure Muslims into a pan-Islamic theocracy. Their logo is an open Qur'an with an upraised assault rifle superimposed against a rising sun.

Lashkar-e-Tayyba is a member of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front for Jihad against the U.S. and Israel, as well as of the United Jihad Council. And that is a problem since its chief sponsor is the Pakistani government.

Zafar Iqbal founded Lashkar-e-Taiba along with Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Zaki ur Rahman Lakhwi. Iqbal took a leave of absence with Saeed in late 2001 to work for Jamaat-al-Dawat, Saeed's Islamic preaching organization. Jamaat-al-Dawat operates several Islamic schools, or madrassas, in Pakistan, educating thousands of students and turning them into jihadists. Iqbal is the director of education for the terrorist manufacturing facilities which teach Muslims to hate and kill Christians and Jews.

Recognizing that Islam authorizes lying to Infidels for the advancement of the religion, Iqbal denies all links with Lashkar-e-Tayyba, the terrorist organization he founded, and with al-Qaeda, the organization that he publicly allied his terrorist group with. It is like President Musharraf telling the American people he is against terrorism when in fact, his coup was predicated on his support for terror.

Hafiz Mohammed Saeed was an academic by profession, which is why he is headmaster at the Jamaat al-Dawat's Islamic seminary. Saeed has been arrested by Pakistani authorities several times, most recently in February 2006 after leading a violent demonstration against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed inspiring Islamic violence. He was immediately released and currently lives in Lahore.

Today, Maulana Abdul Wahid Kashmiri is the official leader of Lashkar-e-Tayyba, though some assert that it is still led by the Qur'anic teachings of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. But Saeed publicly relinquished control to Abdul Wahid after he was arrested in December 2001. The arrest prompted Saeed to split his organization into an armed wing and a division devoted to Islamic preaching - although the two act as if they were one.

The radical increase in Islamic terrorism being perpetrated on Indian Kashmir, currently the most terrorized place on earth, is a direct result of the American invasion of Afghanistan. The terrorist training bases the United States bombed out of existence were being used to equip Pakistanis to terrorize Kashmir into an Islamic union with Pakistan. An understanding of this reality is essential because there is a direct connection between al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Pakistan, and Islamic terrorism.

Many of Lashkar-e-Tayyba's political assassinations are carried out under the name Save Kashmir Movement.