Hizbul Mujahideen
Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (Arabic: حزب المجاھدین, transl. 'Party of Holy Fighters'), is a Pakistan-affiliated Islamist militant organisation that has been engaged in the Kashmir insurgency since 1989. It aims to separate Kashmir from India and merge it with Pakistan, and is thus one of the most important players in the region as it evolved the narrative of the Kashmir conflict by steering the struggle away from nationalism and towards jihadism.
| Hizbul Mujahideen | |
|---|---|
| حزب المجاھدین | |
Official logo | |
| Founders | Muhammad Ahsan Dar Hilal Ahmed Mir Masood Sarfraz |
| Patron and Supreme Commander | Syed Salahuddin |
| Operational Commander | Farooq Ahmed Nali (a.k.a. Abu Ubaida) (chief operational commander in the Kashmir Valley, India) |
| Foundation | September 1989 (notional) |
| Dates of operation | 1989–present |
| Split to | Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind The Resistance Front |
| Allegiance | Pakistan |
| Group(s) | Dukhtaran-e-Millat |
| Motives | Separation of Kashmir from India and its merger with Pakistan |
| Headquarters | Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir |
| Ideology | Islamism Jihadism |
| Status | Active |
| Part of | United Jihad Council |
| Allies | al-Qaeda Lashkar-e-Taiba Al-Badr |
| Battles and wars | Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | India European Union Canada United States |
Founded in September 1989 as an umbrella group of Islamist militants, Hizbul Mujahideen quickly came under the control of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir; it is considered to be the military wing of the organisation. It was supported, since its inception, by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and was established through an effort initiated under erstwhile Pakistani president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. It is headquartered in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir, and also has liaison offices in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan's political and military capital cities, respectively.
The organisation has claimed responsibility for multiple armed attacks in Kashmir. It has been designated as a terrorist group by the European Union, India, Canada, and the United States. It remains a lawfully-operating organisation in Pakistan.