[Reader-list] FACTBOX-Indian Mujahideen Islamic militant group

[Shivam Vij शिवम् विज्]

FACTBOX-Indian Mujahideen Islamic militant group

Mon Sep 15, 2008 3:39pm IST
http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINDEL35554220080915?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

Sept 15 (Reuters) - Five bombs exploded in crowded markets and streets
in the heart of New Delhi at the weekend, killing at least 21 people
and injuring nearly 100 more.

The Indian Mujahideen Islamic militant group, which has claimed
several major attacks in recent months, said it was responsible.

Following are some facts about the group:

ORIGINS

* The Indian Mujahideen first emerged in the wake of bombings in the
northern state of Uttar Pradesh in November 2007, sending an e-mail to
media outlets just before some of the bombs exploded.

* Indian police say the Indian Mujahideen is an offshoot of the banned
Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), but that local Muslims
appear to have been given training and backing from militant groups in
neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.

SIMI has been blamed by police for almost every major bomb attack in
India, including explosions on commuter trains in Mumbai two years ago
that killed 187 people.

* The sophistication of the attacks appears to have caught police and
intelligence networks by surprise. Some of the recent bombings have
also borne the hallmarks of the Bangladeshi militant group
Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami.

CLAIMS AND THREATS

* Another e-mail was sent in the name of the Indian Mujahideen after
bomb attacks in May that killed 63 people in the tourist city of
Jaipur. The e-mail declared "open war against India" and included the
serial number of one of the bicycles on which the bombs were left.

That e-mail, signed by "Guru Al-Hindi", said India would face more
attacks in tourist sites if it did not stop supporting the United
States in the international arena.

* Shortly before a series of bombs exploded in Ahmedabad on July 26,
an e-mail in the name of the Indian Mujahideen was sent to local media
in the capital of the western state of Gujarat warning that people
would soon "feel the terror of death" in the name of Allah. Those
blasts killed 45 people.

It said the attacks were revenge for the Gujarat riots of 2002, when
around 2,500 people, most of them Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs.
A later e-mail accused several state governments of harassing,
imprisoning and torturing Muslims and threatened consequences if they
did not stop.

* The group sent out a new mail moments after the first blast in New
Delhi, saying the explosions were to prove its capability to strike in
the most secure of Indian cities.

Besides warning of action against some Indian security officials, the
e-mail spoke of what it said was bias in Indian media's coverage of
news about Muslims. It warned of an attack on The Times of India
newspaper for "psychologically fighting us".

ARRESTS

* Four weeks ago, Indian police arrested 10 people who they said were
behind the Ahmedabad bombs.

Police said one of those arrested, Abu Bashir, was the mastermind of
the bombings and that all the suspects were active members of SIMI.
(Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee)

(c) Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved