|
|
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi fighters just before they behead a Pakistani Shia. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group. |
The al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) published a gruesome video on jihadist internet forums that shows the beheading of two Shiites. In a statement that accompanied the video on one of the forums, a jihadist said the Pakistani terror group is part of al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The video, titled “Revenge,” was released today, first on the Jamia Hafsa Urdu forum and then distributed on other jihadist forums, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained the video.
In the video, two Shia men are filmed for nearly half an hour before they are brought outside and seated on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs. Standing behind them are four masked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi fighters; two are holding a red banner with crossed swords.
Two of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi fighters then pull out knives, and proceed to behead the two Shia men. The victims’ heads are then placed on their laps. The jihadists then wipe their knives on the clothes of the slain men.
A jihadist on the Hanein forum, who posted in Arabic, said the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi “is allied to Taliban-Pakistan and has a close relationship with it,” according to SITE, which translated the message.
“Most of the operations against the Shi’ites [in Pakistan], if not all of them, are carried out by this group,” the jihadist continued.
He also said the group carried out a suicide attack in Afghanistan against Shia last year, presumably a reference to the Dec. 6, 2011 attack that killed more than 50 Shia worshipers outside a mosque in the capital of Kabul. The Lashkar-e-Jhanghvi al Almi claimed credit for that attack [see LWJ report, Suicide bomber kills scores in attack at Kabul mosque].
The jihadist at the Hanein forum also said that the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi “is the Omar Brigade of Taliban-Pakistan as the Omar Brigade of al Qaeda Organization targeted Badr Brigade and others among the [Shi’ites].”
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is an anti-Shia terror group that has integrated with al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has an extensive network in Pakistan and serves as al Qaeda’s muscle for terror attacks. The group has conducted numerous suicide and other terror attacks inside Pakistan. In particular, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is well known for carrying out sectarian terror attacks against minority Shia, Ahmadis, Sufis, and Christians in Pakistan.
The US designated the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2003. In 2010, the US added two of the terror group’s top leaders, Amanullah Afridi and Matiur Rehman, LeJ’s operations chief, to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
In February 2010, the US killed Qari Mohammad Zafar, a senior Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leader as well as a leader of the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam, in a drone strike in North Waziristan. Zafar was behind multiple terror attacks in Pakistan and was wanted by the US for murdering a consular official in Karachi.
Although Pakistan has added Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to its list of terror groups, it has been lax in dealing with the terror group and LeJ’s parent organization, the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. Last year, a Pakistani court ordered the release of Malik Ishaq, a Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leader who is thought to have been involved in the March 3, 2009 assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, among other attacks. While Ishaq was supposedly in prison from 1997 until July 2011, he plotted numerous terror attacks in Pakistan.
13 Comments
Its amazing that people whine about drone strikes against people that do things like this on a daily basis.
It shows how much impunity these groups are allowed to operate. For Pakistan, to not even prosecute Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members or other islamic terrorists, which Pakistan’s ISI sponsers, shows that the ISI don’t really care about their own civilians, as long they can use these islamic terrorists for external uses (i.e. Afghanistan and India).
This reminds me of a parent spoiling a child to knock furnitures in people’s houses, as long it is the relative, who they don’t like. Even if the child had to knock their own furnitures at home, it wouldn’t matter to the parents, because they could use the child against a relative or a person, they don’t like.
Thats what’s the analogy of Pakistan is !!
I am a Muslim and this makes me feel pathetic. These guys aren’t Muslims and they have no religion, they aren’t even bloody humans! I request the people on this forum to have some basic decency and not use this to score political points and start saying ‘I TOLD YOU SO’.
Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and all kinds of people do bad things everyday … maybe its time we grew up and accepted that there are bad people and good people. Religion, borders, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc are all just excuses to let our inner devil’s out and oppress others.
This is to Ali G who wrote,
‘Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and all kinds of people do bad things everyday..’
Yeah right I agree, but no one does in the name of their religion except Muslims. You are the one and only persons in the world who behead, bomb and do other ghastly things in the name of your religion. Some peaceful religion that you are following!!!.
@Ali G: I hear what you are saying. There are terrible people in every race, religion, social strata, etc. The vast majority of them, however, are not doing so (well, at least, not so much these days) in the name of their religion, or sect thereof. And while religious violence is certainly not unheard of elsewhere (and violence comes in many forms — see rape of children by Catholic clergy), the problem that many see with Islam is the seeming tolerance for it among the Ummah and even the Ulema. I hear a lot of Muslims say things like, “that is not Islam, that is not representative of our belief system.” And I’m sure, for moderate Muslims, these very acts are apostate. The criticism some have, though, is that the voice against extremism is not strong enough. And why that is, is the central question. Throughout organized religion elsewhere in the world, even very entrenched and powerful institutions (e.g., the Catholic hierarchy) respond to the overwhelming response of the faithful. Even Rome, while it drags its feet and pays lip service to the clergy-abuse scandal, recognizes the need to keep the faithful from outright revolt. Islam is distinct in that there is no official hierarchical structure, at least not to the extent that it can be found in Catholicism. But the same can be said about Evangelical Christianity — there may be some consensus, but there is no single Evangelical leader that speaks for all Evangelical Christians. And yet even the most megalomaniaical evangelical religious leader (just to give an example, not to imply evangelicals are more apt to be megalomaniacs) knows that at a certain point he will lose the flock if a certain line is crossed. At some point, the actions of extremists would be rejected by a large enough majority of the laity, that what ensues is a distinct sect or even faith altogether. Why has that rejection never taken place in Islam? Perhaps one could argue that Islam is different in that it is a vast faith encompassing several different sects, each of whom has a constituency that believes that other sects are heretics. But there is sectarianism in Christianity, even in Judaism and certainly the Eastern faiths such as Buddhism and Hinduism have many, many iterations. And while it has been known to happen (mostly in the now-distant past), the kind of sectarian violence among splinters of the same faith are rare in most other faiths. The one example outside of Islam that is most often cited is Northern Ireland. But given the political, class, and unionist/republican-components of the conflict, religious sect was one of several factors in Northern Ireland’s “troubles.” We rarely see purely intra-faith or sectarian violence like this outside of what occurs in Islam. I myself know better than to paint an entire segment of peoples by the actions of a few, but it is a fair question: Why aren’t more in the community of Islam absolutely up in arms over the hijacking of their faith by the few? I’m familiar with the argument that Western backing of despotic regimes and the backing of Israel, has lent credence to the notion of jihad as a legitimate form of resistance. The so-called Arab Spring would be a good opportunity for Islam to prove that point. Instead, it has been the Islamists who have made the largest gains. Again, this gives the outside world that the larger community of the faithful sanctions this. And then there is the nature, the narrative and the tone (if you will) of the Islamic faith, which some argue creates an environment that favors violence and intolerance. The idea of monotheism is so central to Islam as to permit, with the sanction of God himself, the murder of non-believers. Surely other faiths have historically found doctrinal justification for religious conflict (see the Crusades). But other faiths have evolved over time, mostly as humanity has become more progressive, to reject such moral justifications. And yet Islam is stuck in the 8th Century. Why is that? People should be taking to the streets denouncing the terrible violence being waged by their own against their own. If that isn’t Islam, then why haven’t the Ummah and the Ulema questioned it, stood up to it, and rejected it? The vast, vast majority of Christians, Jews, Hindus, etc., outright reject extremism and religious violence. Until that voice becomes more than a small progressive minority in Islam, your voice of reason, as applied to the larger community, is going to have a credibility problem.
Ali G
You may be right that all people are capable of bad things. But these days, the modern world has had to suffer while Muslims project their ignorance, violence and barbarism upon everyone else around them – including themselves.
The only way for these type of things to stop is for the entire Muslim world to realize we’re not living in the desert days of the Prophet Muhammad anymore. Muslims need to realize the world has changed immensely and they’re not going to be left behind because of their backwardness – they already HAVE been left behind, and it’s nobody’s fault but their own.
Now, granted, the commenting rules say not to discriminate against anyone. But I feel that somebody needs to point out the cold hard truth of this matter, because the absolute majority of the political realm of the modern world has failed to stand up to Islam and it’s backwardness. And on the odd occasion, when people do stand up, they get labelled as bigots, right wingers, racists, etc. So it’s very difficult to call out the real perpetrators of this issue.
But, knowing someone like Bill Roggio, a man of his perceptiveness will no doubt let the comment go through because he knows that there is a fine line between real bigotry, real racism, and calling someone out on their actions.
It’s 2012, people – let’s grow up, and start calling a spade a spade please. Trying to take attention off of the actions of one group – by saying that all humans by default are violent – is a red herring, considering that an overwhelming majority of said violence comes out of the group being defended (Muslims).
I completely agree that Muslims have not done what they should be doing – that is reclaiming their religion from the clutches of a very wicked, vicious, virulent and criminal religious domination that has spread like an epidemic.
It should have made all us Muslims want to stop them because it was about our identity – our religion’s identity. We remained silent, saying this is a small criminal lot, lets not respond to their craziness & give them credibility by responding to them. If ever a Jihad was needed it is against these criminals & killers who have banded together.
They are killing us to force us to don the identity they have given Islam & Muslims.
Not until we stand up to killers & interpreters of Islam, & build a consensus among all Muslims in all countries, should we feel offended if our identity as Muslims is equated with violence, terrorism, etc.
Bad people can do bad things but not in the name of Islam. We cannot allow Muslims to do rot and say they do so because Islam tells them to. We have to reject them.
This is a Yes-No debate that needs to see that all sides are implicated. Many Muslims are being vocal about ending the violence of Al-Quaeda and other radical groups. The Arab Spring was a huge refutation of the radical Islamists’ violent methods. And, yes, Muslims need to be vocal about this constantly.
But to say that other religions were violent in the “distant past” is false. Hindus and Muslims are killing each other in India today. Christian governments are wiping out indigenous religious practices in Latin America right now because of a Christian agenda. The Isreali/Palestinian war has religious reasons for many on both sides — Zionists and Palestinians.
And most of all — many, many Americans supported the invasion of Iraq because of anger against Muslims. You can say that was not the official reason — but that is hiding behind policy statements and ignoring what people said. People wanted revenge for 9-11, and if that meant killing 500,000 Iraqi civilians for the acts of a group of Egyptians and Saudis, that was acceptable to them. The rhetoric of the time was clearly anti-muslim in general. There were other reasons. Al-quaeda has geo-political justifications for their actions, too.
We have to look in the mirror. There are no pure good guys in this. People are willing to use violence to destroy the value systems they believe are evil. All sides are doing it. The problem is, when we believe we are the good guys, by ignoring the motivations of our co-citizens/co-religionists, we add to the cycle of violence. Many Muslims believe that many people in the US are in a war against Islam — and that they do not discriminate between moderate and radical Islam. This may not be true of you. Can you truly say that is not true of much of America? The US is not beheading Muslims in the streets. We are bombing wedding parties in Afghanistan and killing civilians with Apache helicopters in Bagdhad. The scale of the violence is vastly greater on our side. There are real, arguable geo-political reasons to be at war there. But there are also hate based sub-motives that got us there in the first place. Hiding behind policy statements is too shallow a moral stance for us to claim the right to condemn all of Islam.
A wise man once said, ‘never judge a religion by its followers.’
May God guide those who have gone astray to the right path…
A wise man also said……”DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPIDITY”…
The so called “Arab Spring” is nothing more than a vaulting point for Islamists to take control by using (useful idiots) to do most of the dirty work…Look at Egypt now?..a portent of things to come.
For muslims to keep saying these people are not muslim, or that they don’t represent Islam is sheer nonsense… THEY are following the edict of their so called Holy Book and aspire to be like their so called prophet Muhammad, who is viewed as the perfect man.
To keep using the line…”It’s only a small minority of extremists who have (somehow) managed to hijack a whole religion”, is naive and childish to say the least…..The Nazis (who no doubt started off as a small minority) managed to hijack a country with a far lesser following…LOOK WHAT HAPPENED???? Millions were killed and murdered before they were eventually stopped…
Islam is different as it not only has several millions willing to kill all and sundry in the name of their god for the crime of NOT BEING MUSLIM…Worse if your Jewish, but has the help of the Liberal Left (useful idiots) to denounce and vilify anyone who raises any objections to Islam or its nastier promoters.
Yes….ALL IT TAKES FOR EVIL TO WIN, IS FOR GOOD PEOPLE TO DO…NOTHING….
WilliG,
“This is a Yes-No debate that needs to see that all sides are implicated. Many Muslims are being vocal about ending the violence of Al-Quaeda and other radical groups. The Arab Spring was a huge refutation of the radical Islamists’ violent methods. And, yes, Muslims need to be vocal about this constantly.”
Yes, all sides are implicated, because we’re all human. But who keeps beheading people in the name of God? Who drove airliners into the twin towers and the Pentagon? Who bombed trains full of people? I could literally go on and on and on. I even clarified myself in my original comment that violence is part of human nature, but Muslims as a collective force own the brunt of the violence being perpetrated these days, especially in the name of religion. Muslims who commit violence in the name of their religion are literally dragging the world down around them because of their brutality and stupidity.
“But to say that other religions were violent in the “distant past” is false. Hindus and Muslims are killing each other in India today. Christian governments are wiping out indigenous religious practices in Latin America right now because of a Christian agenda. The Isreali/Palestinian war has religious reasons for many on both sides — Zionists and Palestinians.”
Of course other religions still inspire violence today. But like I said, Islam is the inspiration for the majority of the violence today. It’s a little irritating that every time I or someone else wants to criticize Islam and the conduct of Muslims, someone else needs to wag their finger and point out all the violence that other religions perpetrate, and then sugarcoat Islam in the process while talking about how everything else is bad. Not saying you’re doing that in an extreme way, but I’ve seen a lot of people do it, and it’s getting old. We as the “enlightened West” need to finally step up and confront the massive 2 million pound elephant in the room, instead of giving it every excuse in the book to commit more hatred, and then we don’t call them out on it because of political correctness.
“And most of all — many, many Americans supported the invasion of Iraq because of anger against Muslims. You can say that was not the official reason — but that is hiding behind policy statements and ignoring what people said. People wanted revenge for 9-11, and if that meant killing 500,000 Iraqi civilians for the acts of a group of Egyptians and Saudis, that was acceptable to them. The rhetoric of the time was clearly anti-muslim in general. There were other reasons. Al-quaeda has geo-political justifications for their actions, too.”
Alright well the 500,000 figure is extremely inflated, and the only sites I saw carrying figures like that were the anti-Bush anti-Iraq war websites back in the day. 500,000 are not confirmed dead, only around 104,000 insurgents, civilians, and soldiers and police combined are. Still a tragic figure, but nowhere near as bad as your hyperbole.
“Al-quaeda has geo-political justifications for their actions, too.”
If one of your relatives was killed by a suicide bombing, or beheaded on video, you would have a very different comment than that one. You’re a hypocrite, criticizing the U.S. invasion but then saying Al Qaeda’s actions are justified? At this point you seem like nothing more than an apologist for Islam-inspired violence.
“We have to look in the mirror. There are no pure good guys in this. People are willing to use violence to destroy the value systems they believe are evil. All sides are doing it. The problem is, when we believe we are the good guys, by ignoring the motivations of our co-citizens/co-religionists, we add to the cycle of violence. Many Muslims believe that many people in the US are in a war against Islam — and that they do not discriminate between moderate and radical Islam. This may not be true of you. Can you truly say that is not true of much of America? The US is not beheading Muslims in the streets. We are bombing wedding parties in Afghanistan and killing civilians with Apache helicopters in Bagdhad. The scale of the violence is vastly greater on our side. There are real, arguable geo-political reasons to be at war there. But there are also hate based sub-motives that got us there in the first place. Hiding behind policy statements is too shallow a moral stance for us to claim the right to condemn all of Islam.”
Alright well get your facts straight. Muslim militants behead people intentionally. When weddings are bombed in Afghanistan, it is always an accident. They cannot bomb weddings purposely and then expect the population to go to their side, duhhhhh. And we’re not in Iraq anymore, so that’s also a red herring. And when Apache helicopters would fire in cities, it’s because the insurgents would fire mortars and heavy machine guns from inside apartment buildings, I’ve seen the countless videos from their side. Maybe if the civilians of Baghdad – many who are actually armed to the teeth – didn’t let the insurgents into their homes, that wouldn’t happen.
And I never hid behind policy statements. It’s frustrating to rightfully criticize Muslims for the disproportionate amount of violence they contribute to this world, and then have someone like you come in here and not only, in your mind, completely relieve them of their own violence, but then throw it right back in the face of the good ol’ West. Let’s face it – someone was bound to do it – but the next time you try, please get your facts straight on certain issues, such as casualty figures, and operation details, and don’t whitewash the crimes of one side while focusing on the other, it only defeats the purpose of the discussion. Thanks!
“A wise man once said, ‘never judge a religion by its followers.’
May God guide those who have gone astray to the right path…”
Oh really? So I don’t have the right to call people out on their actions?
Instead of holding hands and singing kumbaya together, let’s face reality – we have to live on the same planet as the followers of Islam, as well as the other religions of the world. So I have every right to criticize the actions of religionists around the world, especially if I believe they are impeding the progress of our species and causing unneeded suffering and hatred over a sky daddy who’s existence has never been proven. The Catholic Church’s ignorance set Europe back many, many years. The same goes for Islam, but unlike the Dark Ages, there is another world all around them that is passing them by at light speed.
Muslims have nobody to blame for their own state of affairs but themselves.
So yes, everyone can judge a religion by it’s followers, especially if it’s followers, in the year 2012, are still killing because their God and their Prophet are the “right one”. Please take your quotes somewhere else, or at least think before you copypaste things.
The problem with pakistan is that they donot know whats their real problem is.They think someone else like india or israel or us is creating trouble for them and they should be punished either by hook or crook.But this policy has backfired on them.But they are so ignorant that they still donot accept their fault and find justifications for their wrongdoings like someone commented on site that a muslim can not kill an innocent.
Come on grow up and accept your wrongdoings with open arms.Only then you can hope for something better in future. Otherwise there is dead end ahead of you and you cannot turn back either..