Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ; Urdu: لشکر جھنگوی, Army of Jhangvi), is a Deobandi supremacist, terrorist and militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shia party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). The LeJ was founded by former SSP activists Riaz Basra, Malik Ishaq, Akram Lahori, and Ghulam Rasool Shah.
| Lashkar-e-Jhangvi | |
|---|---|
| لشکر جھنگوی | |
Flag of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi | |
| Founders | Riaz Basra † Malik Ishaq † Akram Lahori (POW) Ghulam Rasool Shah † |
| Leader | Riaz Basra † Malik Ishaq † Akram Lahori (POW) Ghulam Rasool Shah † Asif Chotu † Qari Mohammad Yasin † |
| Dates of operation | 1996–present |
| Split from | Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan |
| Motives | Extermination of the Shia community in Pakistan |
| Headquarters | Afghanistan |
| Active regions | Pakistan Afghanistan |
| Ideology | Islamism Sunni Muslim supremacism Deobandi fundamentalism Takfirism Anti-Shi'ism |
| Notable attacks | |
| Status | Active. Designated as a terrorist organization by
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The LeJ has claimed responsibility for various mass casualty attacks against the Shia community in Pakistan, including multiple bombings that killed over 200 Hazara Shias in Quetta in 2013. It has also been linked to the Mominpura Graveyard attack in 1998, the abduction of Daniel Pearl in 2002, and the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009. A predominantly Punjabi group, the LeJ has been labelled by Pakistani intelligence officials as one of the country's most organisations.
Basra, the first Emir of LeJ, was killed in a police encounter in 2002. He was succeeded by Malik Ishaq, who was also killed, along with Ghulam Rasool Shah, in an encounter in Muzaffargarh in 2015. LeJ was banned by Pakistan in August 2001. The LeJ remains active, and has been designated as a terrorist organization by Australia, Canada, Pakistan, United Kingdom, United States and the United Nations.