A jihadist commander known to have fought in Kashmir was one of
several "militants" killed a US drone strike in the Shawal Valley in
Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan last
weekend. His funeral was attended by the head of the Hizbul Mujahideen
and by a prominent Pakistani politician.
The commander, who was known as Engineer Ahsan Aziz, died
in the Aug. 18 strike in the village of Shuwedar in the Shawal Valley that killed six people, according to a report in
Geo News.
The jihadist's father, Abdul Aziz, who is also "a former militant
commander," told the Pakistani news service that his son and his son's
wife were killed in the airstrike.
Engineer Ahsan has been based in the Waziristan tribal areas for a decade and fought in Afghanistan, according to his father.
"Aziz said his son had moved with his wife to Waziristan in 2002 to participate in the jihad in Afghanistan,"
The Daily Excelsior reported.
Engineer Ahsan "was part of the deep bench of Pakistani jihadists who
have stepped in to fill mid and senior level leadership positions in al
Qaeda" as the terror group's legacy leaders have been killed in drone
strikes, a senior US military intelligence official told
The Long War Journal.
"There are many more like him [Ahsan], serving as the backbone of al
Qaeda, in the tribal areas and throughout Pakistan," the intelligence
official said.
A senior Pakistani politician and the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, an
al Qaeda-linked terror group, both attended Engineer Ahsan's funeral
service, which was held in Kashmir, according to
The Daily Excelsior.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the former emir of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a
political party that supports the Taliban, led the prayer service.
Syed Salahuddin, the emir of Hizbul Mujahideen, was also in
attendance, as were several "leaders of the Hurriyat Conference and
Jamaat-e-Islami."
Hizbul Mujahideen is a jihadist group with close ties to other
Pakistani terror groups that focuses on fighting in Jammu and Kashmir,
but also supports al Qaeda and other jihadist groups in Pakistan and
Afghanistan. It receives support from Pakistan's military and the
Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI). In May 2011, Salahuddin
admitted that the Pakistani military allows him
to run "hundreds of training camps in the state where we recruit and train the mujahideen."
Salahuddin is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council, which is
supported by the Pakistani military and the ISI, according to the South
Asia Terrorism Portal. The Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, two
groups that are on the US and United Nations lists of terror
organizations, are part of the United Jihad Council. Salahuddin has
close ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and its charitable front, the
Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
In July, Salahuddin
spoke at a fundraising and recruiting drive for jihad in Afghanistan and India,
and said Pakistan is the victim of a US and Israeli conspiracy. At the
conference, which was held in Rawalpindi, he stated that his fighters
were waging jihad against the US.
"Pakistan is the target of the US-Israeli nexus. Our fighters are
defending Pakistan at a time when its geographical boundaries, its
security and Islamic identity are at risk," Salahuddin said. "We are
fighting in Kashmir. It doesn't matter to us if we are labelled
terrorists. We are proud to be called terrorists for fighting the US and
its allies in Afghanistan."
The Pakistani government refuses to act against Salahuddin and other
terrorist leaders, despite their direct involvement in terrorist
activities.
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