Formation
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), a Sunni-Deobandi terrorist outfit was formed in 1996 by a break away group of radical sectarian extremists of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Sunni extremist outfit, which accused the parent organisation of deviating from the ideals of its slain co- founder, Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. It is from Maulana Jhangvi that the LeJ derives its name. It was formed under the leadership of Akram Lahori and Riaz Basra. The LeJ is one of the two sectarian terrorist outfits proscribed on August 14, 2001, by President Pervez Musharraf.
Ideology and Objectives
The LeJ aims to transform Pakistan into a Sunni state, primarily through violent means. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is part of the broader Deoband movement
Leadership and Command Structure
Muhammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori is reportedly the present Saalar-i-Aala ('Commander-in-Chief') of the LeJ. Lahori was originally with the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), which he had joined in 1990. Subsequently, in 1996, he along with Malik Ishaque and Riaz Basra founded the LeJ and launched terrorist activities in Punjab. He has also reportedly established a training camp in Sarobi, Afghanistan after securing support from the erstwhile Taliban regime there.
Lahori succeeded Riaz Basra, who was killed in Mailsi, Multan on May 14, 2002. Lahori is himself in police custody following his arrest in Orangi Town, Karachi, on June 17, 2002 based on information provided by Shabbir Ahmed––an LeJ cadre who arrested by Karachi police in Gulzar-i-Hijri on the same day. Police also recovered two Kalashnikovs and two TT pistols from the possession of Lahori, who was carrying head money of Rs five million announced by the Sindh government and another Rs five million announced by the Punjab government. Five accomplices of Lahori were also arrested on the same day. At his arrest, a senior member of the LeJ, Qari Ataur Rahman alias Naeem Bukhari, issued a press statement expressing the apprehension that Lahori might be killed in a "fake" encounter. Rahman was himself later arrested from his hideout in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Karachi. Rahman is allegedly involved in the abduction-cum-murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl. It is, however, not clear if Lahori has passed on the mantle to any one else, or continues to head the outfit while being in detention.
Lahori, according to reports of July 2, 2002 quoting senior police officials, was involved in 38 cases of sectarian killings in Sindh. These included the killing of Ehtishamuddin Haider, brother of Federal Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider, Pakistan State Oil Managing Director Shoukat Raza Mirza. Besides, he was also involved in the massacre at Imambargah Mehmoodabad and in the murder of Iranian cadets in Rawalpindi. Lahori reportedly confessed during interrogation that he was involved in 30 cases of sectarian killings in Punjab, including those of 24 persons who were attending a Majlis in Mominpura. Also he revealed that his group had planned to kill Interior Minister Moinuddin Hiader, but due to tight security measures, murdered his brother instead. Consequent to the death of Riaz Basra, Lahori was acting as LeJ chief and he himself reportedly monitored and perpetrated sectarian killings in Karachi where he was residing for the last one and a half years.
Lahori's predecessor was Basra. He was involved in more than 300 terrorist incidents, including attacking Iranian missions, killing an Iranian diplomat Sadiq Ganji in December 1990 and targeting government officials. He was arrested and tried by a special court for Ganji's killing, but escaped during trial in 1994 from police custody while being produced in court. He was Chief of the Khalid bin Walid unit of the Afghan Mujahideen in Afghanistan.
Media reports said Riaz Basra, along with three of his accomplices, was killed in an encounter on May 14, 2002. The encounter occurred at Dakota, which had been targeted twice in the past by the proscribed LeJ. Basra was allegedly in police custody in Faisalabad since January 2002 and was being interrogated for the activities of his group. According to reports quoting police sources, four armed terrorists came to Chak Kot Chaudhry Sher Mohammad Ghalvi on May 14 and stopped near the house of Chaudhry Fida Hussain Ghalvi, district chief of the banned Shia group Tehreek-e-Jaferia Pakistan (TJP). Consequent to a shoot-out between the two groups the police intervened and in the ensuing encounter Basra and his associates were killed. Ghalvi asserted that the LeJ cadres had come to kill him and to emphasise his belief also pointed out that the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had killed his brother, Mukhtar, in year 1997. Police sources said that Basra's identity was established by one of his accomplices, Kashif, who is under detention for alleged involvement in another sectarian killing.
Consequent to Basra's killing, reports on his arrest in January 2002 have indicated that he was arrested after the Faisalabad police captured Ajmal alias Sheikh Jamshaid, an associate of Basra. Ajmal assisted the police in arresting Liaquat Ali of Kehror Pucca, who was wanted for his alleged involvement in a triple murder case. After interrogating Liaquat, the police raided a number of locations in Faisalabad, Lahore, Jhang, Sargodha and certain other parts of Pakistan. Based on information received from Ajmal and Liaquat, Riaz Basra was arrested.
Basra is described as a religious fanatic with extraordinary enthusiasm. Motivated by the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and politically active since 1988, he contested elections to the provincial assembly from Lahore as an SSP nominee. It is under Basra's leadership that the LeJ rose to become the most dreaded sectarian terrorist outfit in Pakistan. The intensity of its threat was such that Nawaz Sharief, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, who was served a threatening letter by Basra, stopped attending open courts.
The entire leadership of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi consists of Jehadis who fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan. A majority of its cadres are drawn from the numerous Sunni madrassas (seminaries) in Pakistan.
Media reports indicate that the LeJ is an amalgam of loosely co-ordinated sub-units in various parts of Pakistan, particularly in the districts of Punjab with autonomous chiefs for each sub-unit. Riaz Basra reportedly controls the LeJ's units in Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Sargodha. Another top LeJ terrorist, Malik Ishaque, currently under detention, was the chief of the units in Faisalabad, Multan and Bahawalpur divisions and in Bhakkar district. The success of most of its terrorist operations is attributed to its multi-cellular structure, whereby the outfit is divided into small groups that are not in constant contact with each other.
The LeJ is organized into small cells of approximately five to eight cadres each, who operate independently of the others. Individual LeJ cadres are reportedly unaware of the number of cells in existence similar to their own or the structure of operations. After carrying out an attack LeJ cadres often disperse and then reassemble at the various training camps to plan future operations.
A news report of October 2000 claimed that the LeJ had split into two factions––one headed by Riaz Basra (since deceased) and the other by the chief of the outfit's Majlis-i-Shoora (Supreme Council), Qari Abdul Hai alias Qari Asadullah alias Talha. The split reportedly occurred due to differences between the two over resumption of ethnic strife, which had receded after the military coup in Pakistan in October 1999. While Basra favoured resumption of terrorist attacks against Shia targets in order to force the government to comply with the demands of the outfit, Talha opposed the plan as he reportedly felt it was suicidal not only for the organization but also for national solidarity. Talha based his opinion on the assumption that, with a military regime in power, any armed activity would invite stern action against the LeJ. Qari Hai was Basra's lieutenant and ran the latter's training camp in Sarobi, Afghanistan, until the two fell out and formed their own respective factions. While the majority of Hai's supporters are Karachi-based, Basra's cadres have their roots in the Punjab.
Basra figured on a US State Department list of terrorists who "live in or have lived in, have trained in, are headquartered in or financed from Afghanistan". Riaz Basra, who escaped from police custody was wanted by Pakistani authorities in connection with sectarian terrorism, and had been described in the US State Department list as a "would be assassin" of the deposed Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharief. Basra was allegedly involved in a terrorist incident on January 3, 1999 in which a bridge on the Lahore-Raiwind road, close to Nawaz Sharif's house, was blown up shortly before the then Prime Minister was due to pass by. Basra was also reportedly sighted at various places in Pakistan in the past five years, and Pakistani newspapers have often received messages purportedly sent by him claiming responsibility for certain sectarian terrorist attacks. Although police sources in Sargodha, on April 5, 1999, reported that he was killed in an encounter, his mother's testimony and forensic tests have since disproved this.
Riaz Basra was allegedly permitted to escape from the annual Tableghi congregation in November 2000, in Raiwind. Reports indicate that security force personnel allowed Basra to escape fearing large-scale bloodshed if he were arrested at the congregation. Official sources point that Basra is adept at changing his appearance, and that he has a number of lookalikes within his ranks and on a number of occasions he has mistakenly been reported killed.
The outfit had suffered the loss of several of its top leaders and other cadres due to a crackdown initiated by the Nawaz Sharief administration in 1998.
Pakistani reports indicate that the active cadre strength of the LeJ is approximately 300. Most of these cadres are either under arrest in Pakistan or were based in the various training camps in Afghanistan, from where they regularly came to Pakistan to carry out terrorist activities. Media reports have also added that the outfit is never short of cadres, in spite of the large-scale arrests or the deaths of cadres in encounters. Media reports in September 2001 have indicated that the LeJ has been fielding newer cadres to evade arrests.
Two of the LeJ's most important training centres are located in Muridke (Sheikhupura) and Kabirwal, in Khanewal district. It also has a training camp in Afghanistan located near the Sarobi Dam, Kabul. The present status of the camp is not known. Qari Asadullah, a top LeJ terrorist has reportedly been supervising and ensuring the training facilities of Pakistan-origin terrorists at this camp in collaboration with and support of the erstwhile Taliban regime. However, in the light of US attacks on Afghanistan, the fate of LeJ camps in that country is not immediately known. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi cadres are reportedly using police uniforms for their operations in order to secure easy access to mosques and for easy extrication after committing a terrorist act.
Media reports indicate that the occasional successes against the LeJ by the security agencies have forced the top leadership to remain underground. Rather than risk arrest by engaging in attacks themselves, they have begun training new recruits and directing operations.
Linkages
Although SSP chief Maulana Azam Tariq has repeatedly dissociated himself publicly from the terrorist activities of the LeJ, security agencies and media reports indicate that the two outfits are closely linked to each other. For instance, when LeJ terrorist Sheikh Haq Nawaz Jhangvi was due to be hanged in February 2001 for terrorist offences, Maulana Tariq, instead of dissociating himself from the terrorist, led a campaign for the remission of his sentence and also offered diyat (blood money) to Iran. Sheikh Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, was hanged in the Mianwali Central Jail. Nawaz was 19 years old when he murdered the Iranian diplomat in Lahore on December 19, 1990. It took the courts and the authorities 11 years to decide his fate. During his trial he was kept at different jails in the Punjab. Prior to his hanging, the Supreme Court of Pakistan dismissed two review petitions filed by him against the death penalty.
Both the SSP and LeJ maintain that they are not organisationally linked. But, few analysts of the sectarian conflict in Pakistan believe this to be true. Their cadres come from the same madrassas as also a similar social milieu. The SSP leadership has never criticised the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi because the two organisations share the same sectarian belief system and worldview. They also have a similar charter of demands, which includes turning Pakistan into a Sunni state. Both the outfits have consistently resorted to violence and killings to press their demands, though the SSP has also been attempting to adopt a political path.
The SSP and LeJ have very close links with the Taliban militia. They assisted the Taliban in every way they can both in Afghanistan and within Pakistan. They have fought alongside the Taliban militia in Afghanistan against the Northern Alliance. Besides, all three groups are closely linked in their fight against the Shias, be it in Afghanistan or in Pakistan. LeJ and SSP cadres reportedly played an active part in the massacres of Shias by the erstwhile Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Many hardcore LeJ terrorists were given sanctuary in Afghanistan by the erstwhile Taliban regime. The Taliban leadership had consistently refused to hand over 21 wanted Pakistani terrorists to Islamabad, saying the fugitives, belonging to the SSP and the LeJ, were not on their soil. Pakistani authorities, however, repeatedly emphasised that these terrorists continued to live in the Afghan capital, Kabul before the US attacks in Afghanistan commenced. The whereabouts of these Afghanistan-based LeJ terrorists, after the US launched attacks on Afghanistan, is not clear. Although the Taliban refused to acknowledge the presence of these terrorists, the Pakistani establishment pointed that they were enjoying its hospitality.
Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider visited Kabul and Kandahar in March 2001 and, among other things, discussed with the Taliban regime the extradition of Pakistani fugitives. The Taliban declined to sign an extradition treaty but promised to search and surrender them. At the time, topping the list of wanted persons was the then LeJ chief, Riaz Basra, who, like the others on the list carried a handsome reward on his head. In fact, official sources later said Basra had visited Karachi and southern Punjab during the year 2001 for medical treatment. The authorities also added that Basra had narrowly escaped arrest in the Punjab during his visit when he had stayed in Pakistan for almost six months.
Besides, Basra Zakiullah and present chief Lahori, too, figured on the list of most wanted persons. Official sources hold that LeJ terrorists frequently cross over into Pakistan from Afghanistan using unfrequented routes, commit bank robberies and sectarian-related killings.
Being part of the broader Deoband movement, the LeJ secured considerable assistance from other Deobandi outfits. It also has an effectual working relationship with other Deobandi political and terrorist outfits at a personal level, if not at the organisational level. In Afghanistan, they reportedly trained along with the Taliban and other Deobandi terrorists from Pakistan at the same training camps.
The LeJ is also reported to have links with the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Pakistan-based terrorist outfit active in India's Jammu and Kashmir. Many front ranking LeJ terrorists are have reportedly received training at HuM camps in Afghanistan. According to a media report, many LeJ cadres secured training at the HuM's Khalid Bin Waleed camp in Afghanistan. According to the same report, the standard training period consists of 4-8 weeks during which the trainees are provided extensive training in handling sophisticated small arms, assembling and handling of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), other varieties of explosives, as well as in hit-and-run tactics.
The LeJ also maintains links with another Pakistan-based terrorist outfit, the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Jaish Chief Maulana Masood Azhar reportedly wanted to name his outfit Lashkar-e-Muhammad but was 'advised' to avoid the association with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
Reports hold that the LeJ has been securing financial assistance from Saudi Arabia. Evidence of private Arab funding was disclosed with the arrest of several LeJ cadres responsible for the May 1997 killing of Ashraf Marth, a senior Police officer who had arrested the killers of Agha Mohammed Ali Rahimi, the Iranian Cultural Attaché in Multan. A substantial portion of LeJ's funding is reportedly derived from wealthy benefactors in Karachi, Pakistan.
Activities and Incidents
The LeJ's chief area of operation is within Pakistan, where it has admitted responsibility for numerous massacres of Shias and targeted killings of Shia religious and community leaders.
More than 70 doctors and 34 lawyers, various Ulema (religious scholars), teachers and students of seminaries, politico-religious parties leaders and activists, officials of various government and private institutions have been assassinated between June 2000 and June 2002 in Pakistan by the SSP and the LeJ. All of them were Shias.
The LeJ has also carried out numerous attacks against Iranian interests and Iranian nationals in Pakistan. The outfit uses terror tactics with the aim of forcing the Pakistani State into accepting its narrow interpretations of Sunni sectarian doctrines as official doctrines. The victims of its terror tactics have been leaders and workers of rival Shia outfits, bureaucrats, policemen, and worshippers of the 'other' sect. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is widely considered to be the most secretive sectarian terrorist outfit in Pakistan. It has never exposed itself to the Pakistani public or media. The only means of exposure is through the fax messages and press releases it sends to newspaper offices claiming responsibility for an act of terrorism.
In 1999, the LeJ, in a press release, offered a reward of 135 million Pakistani rupees for anyone who would undertake the killing of Nawaz Sharief, the then Prime Minister; Shabaz Sharief, his younger brother and the then Chief Minister of Punjab, and Mushahid Hussein, the then Information Minister. An attempt was, indeed, made on the life of Nawaz Sharief when a bomb exploded and destroyed a bridge between Lahore and Raiwind, barely an hour before he was to pass by on January 2, 1999.
The LeJ reportedly also uses rafts across the Attock River for shipping arms and ammunition from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) into Punjab. The new modus operandi was chosen to hoodwink the authorities after permanent pickets were set up by the Punjab police on all land routes coming into the Province from the NWFP, in addition to intensifying patrolling along all such routes. Earlier, the LeJ had been using two bridges, one near Taunsa and another near Bhakkar, to transport arms and ammunition.
The LeJ is currently reported to be finding it hard to execute terrorist strikes because it has become difficult to smuggle arms into Punjab and also due to the differences between Riaz Basra and Qari Asadullah.
In October 1997, a Pakistani news report quoted Malik Ishaque, a top LeJ terrorist currently under detention, as saying, "I have been instrumental in the killing of 102 human beings."
The LeJ was responsible for the Lahore Mominpura Cemetery massacre on January 11, 1998, in which 25 Shia Muslims were killed and 50 others injured. Most of the victims were women and children who had gathered for Qur'an-Khwani (Quranic recital) at the cemetery. Aziz Gujar, Haroon Mansoor, Riaz Basra and Akram Lahori were the main accused in this massacre. While the first two were arrested, Basra and Lahori evaded arrest.
Acting upon information secured from LeJ chief Lahori and Rahman, both of who are now under detention, police recovered 134 Kalashnikov rifles, rockets, landmines, explosives, chemicals, and poison-filled capsules. Karachi Police have also arrested the wife and a son of Lahori. Lahori was also taken to Punjab and, based on his information, police and agents of US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided various places and arrested several suspected terrorists.
The Sindh government on October 15, 2001 announced head money for the arrest of 12 proclaimed offenders involved in heinous sectarian terrorist attacks. According to the announcement, seven absconders belong to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi while five are activists of another proscribed terrorist outfit, the Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP). The Sindh government announced Rs 1 million cash reward for each of the three Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorists, Qari Abdul Hai alias Qari Asad alias Talha, resident of District Alipur, Muzaffargar; Atta-ur-Rehman alias Nadeem Bukhari, resident of Paposh Nagar, Karachi, and Asif Ramzi, resident of Karachi. Half a million rupees cash reward each was fixed for another three LeJ cadres - Asif Ramzi alias Chotto alias Hafiz, resident of Muhammad Nagar, Karachi; Muhammad Rashid; and Lal Muhammad alias Lal Bhai alias Faqeer, resident of Orangi Town, Karachi. Rs 0.25 million cash reward was fixed for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi cadre Muhammad Umer alias Haji Sahib, resident of Shah Faisal Colony, Karachi.
Karachi Police on June 29 published photos of 10 terrorists wanted in connection with the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl and for the two car-bomb attacks on Western targets in Karachi. At least 16 persons, including 12 French nationals, were killed and 26 persons injured in a bomb blast in Karachi on May 8, 2002. In the second attack, near the US Consulate in Karachi on June 14, 12 persons were killed. At least five of the 10 terrorists identified are believed to be LeJ cadres. It was also the first occasion that police identified LeJ as being involved in all the three incidents. One of the photographed men, Asif Ramzi, is listed as wanted in the Pearl murder case and also for sectarian killings, with a three million rupees-reward offered for his capture. Another suspect, Naveedul Hassan, is listed as wanted in the June 14 terrorist incident and his capture carries two million rupee-award. Sharib is listed as wanted in both the Consulate-attack and the May 8-attack.
According to senior investigators, the Al Qaeda network is suspected to have worked with LeJ cadres to plan both the car-bomb attacks. Intelligence sources have indicated that certain LeJ terrorists arrested in Karachi in June 2002 have been allegedly working with the Al Qaeda to strike at targets in Pakistan.
Some of the killings which have reportedly been carried out by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are:
2010
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September 14: The Interior Minister Rehman Malik, while announcing a grand operation against LeJ, once again made it clear that no military operation was taking place in Balochistan.
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September 9: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi indicted three suspected militants, Abdul Baqi alias Talha, Mohammad Ismail and Yousuf, in explosive substance and illicit weapons cases. Three were stated to be associated with the militant outfit LeJ, have been charged with planning to target an Eid Milad-un-Nabi congregation at Nishtar Park in February 2010 and possessing explosive material and unlicensed weapons, which were recovered by Police.
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September 1: 43 persons were killed and another 230 injured in two suicide attacks and one grenade attack on a Shia procession marking Hazrat Ali's martyrdom in Lahore. LeJ Al-alami claimed responsibility for the three attacks that occurred minutes apart in Bhaati Gate locality of Lahore.
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August 22: The Police arrested two persons, identified as Mohammad Adnan and Shah Jahan alias Munna, for their associations with LeJ and JeM after an alleged encounter in Korangi in Karachi.
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August 20: CID officials arrested two men allegedly affiliated with the banned outfit LeJ and involved in the killing of the MPA Raza Haider. The Police recovered two pistols and nine rounds from their possession.
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August 19: The Judicial Magistrate of Karachi West granted the physical remand for seven days of two alleged cadres of the LeJ accused of 10 target killings.
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August 18: City Police arrested two alleged members of the LeJ accused of being involved in over 10 targeted killings in the city, including the assassination of MQM legislator Raza Haider in the Jama Masjid in Nazimabad on August 2.
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August 3: The Police arrested several suspects for alleged links to the LeJ as investigators suspected their involvement in the murder of MQM MPA Raza Haider.
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July 5: The CID of Karachi Police arrested a LeJ militant, Zahid Khan alias Shakeel, from the Sohrab Goth area of Karachi. CID Operations SSP Fayyaz Khan said a CID team arrested Zahid Khan alias Shakeel with a TT pistol and four bullets. The arrestee was involved in the killing of a Shia community member Shehzad Hussain among others, the SSP added.
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June 24: The CID arrested three LeJ cadres from Liaquatabad and Orangi Town in Karachi in Sindh. The arrestees, identified as Hafiz Muhammad Ali Qureshi, Talha Zubair and Muhammad Zahid were suspected to be involved in targeted killings. Three TT pistols and 12 bullets were recovered from their possession.
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June 14: A commander of the LeJ, Qari Zafar, allegedly involved in the attack on the US Consulate in Karachi on March 2, 2006, was killed in an IED blast near Miranshah in North Waziristan on an unspecified date. The US had announced USD five million as head money on him for his alleged involvement in attack on their consulate in Karachi.
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June 3: One LeJ militant was shot dead and three others arrested during a bid to escape after robbing a private bank in Orangi Town Police Station area of Karachi in Sindh.
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June 2: The LeJ allegedly threatened to kill the MS of the Sindh Government Hospital of Saudabad in Khokhrapar area of Karachi in a suicide attack.
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May 28: Unidentified militants killed four Policemen in Satellite Town area of Quetta in Balochistan. According to official sources, a Police vehicle carrying the officials was on routine patrol in the Satellite Town Police precincts when three unidentified militants ambushed the vehicle on Langov Street and opened indiscriminate fire. A constable died on the spot and three officials, including Satellite Town SHO Abdul Khaliq, were severely injured. They succumbed to their injuries on their way to Sandman Hospital. LeJ claimed responsibility for the attack.
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May 11: The CID Operations of Sindh Police arrested a LeJ cadre, Saleem Qaiser Baloch, from Kalakot area of Karachi, who was allegedly involved in a bank heist of PNR 3.2 million. According to SSP Fayyaz Khan, during initial interrogation Baloch confessed of his involvement in robbing a bank in Memon Goth.
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May 4: A cadre of the LeJ was arrested by the Police on suspicion that he was involved in a bank robbery that took place on April 26 in Gadap town of Karachi. Police also claimed of having defused a bomb found following the information provided by three LeJ men who were earlier arrested in the bank heist case.
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April 26: The Police arrested three LJ militants who had robbed at least PNR 4.3 million from a private bank under the Memon Goth Police Station area in Karachi. As per details, at least five armed persons entered the bank located in a market of Murad Memon Goth near Superhighway around 10 am (PST), held the staff, security guards and customers hostage at gunpoint, and were trying to escape with the looted amount within five to seven minutes. Following information about bank robbery, Police moving towards the crime scene intercepted the robbers' car. However, two of the five robbers managed to escape. A Police officer said the arrested persons were identified as Asif, Abdul Basit and Talha, who used to collect money for funding militant outfits fighting with the SFs in tribal areas.
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April 17: Two burqa-clad suicide bombers targeted a crowd of IDP waiting to get them registered and receive relief goods at the Kacha Pakka IDP camp on the outskirts of Kohat in NWFP, killing at least 44 and injuring more than 70. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's Al-Aalmi faction claimed responsibility for the bombings, and cited the presence of Shias at the IDP camp as the reason for the attack.
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April 16: A suicide bomber blew himself up in an attack inside civil hospital in Quetta, killing 11 persons and injuring 35 others. Among the killed was a private television cameraman, Malik Arif, and Senior Police Officials while out of 35 injured, least four reporters and a local parliamentarian were injured. The LeJ claimed responsibility of the suicide attack. The LeJ claimed that it had carried out the suicide bombing that also injured MNA Nasir Ali Shah of the PPP.
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March 29: Three high-profile militants, including an operational 'commander' of the banned outfit LeJ, were arrested by the Anti-Extremist Cell of the Sindh Police's CID during a raid in Rehri Goth area of Bin Qasim Town in Karachi. Officials recovered 50 to 60 kilogrammes of potassium nitrate, 30-metre detonating code, three detonators and three pistols from the possession of the arrestees identified as Rizwan Muqaddam, Munir Chandio and Ziauddin Mehsud alias Khan Mohammad alias Siddique. AEC Chief Senior Superintendent of Police Omer Shahid said the militants were arrested while plotting for an attack on the Karachi Central Jail to help their imprisoned associates escape and they had also prepared an explosives-laden car for that purpose.
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March 12: At least 57 persons, including eight soldiers, were killed and more than 90 persons were injured as twin suicide blasts, moments apart from each other, ripped through the Lahore's RA Bazaar in the cantonment area. The bombers struck during Friday prayers at around 12:50 pm (PST).
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February 26: The CID of the Sindh Police arrested three militants belonging to the LeJ outfit from a hideout near Jamshed Road in Karachi. Three TT pistols, 20-kg ammonium nitrate mixed with RDX, 500 grams of C-4 explosives, six detonators, two mortar rockets, and wires were recovered from their possession. The arrestees were identified as Ismail, Yousuf Chandio, and Abdul Baqi alias Talha. According to the CID officials the trio were planning to carry out a major militant activity in the city, on the occasion of Eid Miladun Nabi (birthday of Prophet Mohammad). They were also associated with Qari Hussain Mehsud, the mastermind of the suicide bomber squad of the TTP.
2009
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November 12: Police in Quetta, capital of Balochistan claimed the arrest of a top LeJ terrorist wanted in 16 cases and for the murder of 28 members of the Shia-Hazara community in target killings in the provincial capital. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG, Operations), Shahid Nizam Durrani, said Police had arrested Hafiz Muhammad Usman Muhammad Shahi alias Abbas, considered one of the masterminds of 28 sectarian killings. He said Abbas had also revealed important details of recent sectarian killings, in addition to providing information on his accomplices in target killings. "Abbas also provided information that helped us find a Kalashnikov used in sectarian killings," the DIG said. The militant has also reportedly confessed to being involved in the murder of Hussain Ali Yousafi - chairman of the Hazara Democratic Party, who was shot dead in Quetta on January 26, 2009. "Following the information provided by Abbas about his colleagues, police are planning more raids in Bolan, Mach and Naseerabad districts with the hope to bust the gang involved in sectarian killings in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan. A team of senior police officers is investigating the matter," said the DIG.
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September 20: Pakistan's law enforcement agencies are searching for 83 high profile terrorists wanted for various crimes ranging from the attack on former President Pervez Musharraf to fanning the separatist movement in Balochistan. According to a list maintained by the Interior Ministry, 41 of the most wanted terrorists belong to Punjab, 21 to Sindh, 13 to Balochistan and eight to the NWFP. Of the 83 terrorists, Bramdagh Bugti tops the list with 31 information reports registered against him. The available data shows the majority of the terrorists belong to various sectarian and terrorist organisations, including the HuJI, SSP, LeJ and Sipah-e-Mohammed Pakistan (SMP). The majority of the "most wanted" belong to the LeJ and SMP and are wanted in various high profile cases, including assassination attempts targeting Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Karachi Corps commander; the blasts at the Sheraton hotel and foreign embassies; arms smuggling; target killings of rival groups, doctors, Police and intelligence officials and personnel; kidnapping for ransom; and attacks on imambargahs (Shia places of worship) and mosques.
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August 23: The Karachi Police claimed to have arrested seven members of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), a proscribed Sunni militant group. The suspects were arrested in the Defence View area in the night of August 22, the DIG Saud Mirza said at a press conference. According to him, the accused surrendered themselves to law-enforcement agencies without putting up a resistance. The DIG said one of the accused, Shahzad, was a close associate of Amjad Farooqi and was involved in attacks on former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Police also seized three suicide jackets, 15 kilograms of explosive material, four AK-47 rifles, four pistols, two gas masks, five kilograms of ball bearings, 200 rounds of bullets, electric wires, remote controls and batteries. Police is also reported to have found about one and half kilograms of heroin. The accused allegedly smuggled drugs to foreign countries to generate funds for purchasing arms and ammunition and supporting families of their accomplices who were killed or were under detention. They also used to provide money to the Quetta-based Taliban commander Abdul Samad.
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June 17: The Lahore Police claimed the arrest of a terrorist involved in the attack on a visiting Sri Lankan cricket team on March 3, with officials claiming the attackers had plans to take the cricketers hostage to demand the release of jailed leaders of their group. The Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Pervaiz Rathore told a press conference that the arrested man, identified as Zubair alias Naik Muhammad, who killed an unarmed traffic warden in the attack was a member of the Punjab Taliban, an offshoot of the banned LeJ group. Seven people, including six Policemen, were killed when terrorists ambushed the Sri Lankan team while it was being driven to Gaddafi Stadium for a match.
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June 17: A security official said an intelligence agency had warned of a possible terrorist attack on passenger aircraft by a militant group based in Darra Adamkhel. Tariq Afridi, leader of the banned TTP in Darra Adamkhel, had threatened to attack passenger aircraft if the Government did not stop operations against militants in Malakand, Bajaur and other areas by June 15. The militant had previously been associated with the banned LeJ.
Police arrested a terrorist from the LeJ group in Karachi, identified as Irfan Islam alias Lamba, who was wanted by the Police and his name was reportedly listed in its Red Book for 2009.
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May 13: Security agencies arrested three key accused of the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. A private TV channel reported that the arrested suspects were members of the banned Sunni group LeJ and hail from southern Punjab. Two of the arrested men were directly involved in the attack on the Sri Lankan players while the third provided logistic support to the attackers in the city, the channel's sources said. The channel also said the assailants had received training in a militant camp at Wana in South Waziristan.
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April 8: Police said they had arrested five members of the banned Sunni group LeJ for allegedly plotting to bomb sensitive areas in Karachi. "We have arrested five terrorists and seized... weapons, explosives and chemicals required for bomb-making," Karachi city Police chief Waseem Ahmed told a press conference. He also confirmed the suspects belonged to the LeJ group.
*
March 25: The Australian Government on March 16 re-listed six groups as terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code, following advice from Australia's security agencies. The re-listing ensures that it remains an offence to associate with, train with, provide training for, receive funds from, make funds available to, direct or recruit for these organisations. The outfits that have been re-listed are: Ansar al Islam (formerly Ansar al-Sunna); Asbat al Ansar; Islamic Army of Aden; Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; JeM; and LeJ.
*
March 22: The intelligence agencies probing the March 3 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore have named the banned LeJ as the group behind the incident. A detailed report of the findings has been submitted to the Government. A senior official involved in the probe revealed that certain important arrests had been made in Karachi and other parts of the country in connection with the attack which killed eight persons. The unnamed officer maintained that during the course of investigations, it has emerged that Matiur Rehman of the LeJ was the mastermind of the terrorist attack, while Mohsin (who was involved in the Rawalpindi attack on General Pervez Musharraf, also attributed to the LeJ was present during the Lahore attack. The senior official believes that the attack was planned with the coordination of the Baitullah Mehsud group.
*
March 3: Five Shias were killed in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, when unidentified assailants attacked members of a family in the city - taking the death toll from sectarian attacks in a single week to 12. According to Police, the assailants ambushed a van carrying the Shia family on the eastern bypass of Quetta – killing five people on the spot. The slain civilians were returning to Quetta from the Mach area when they were targeted. "It is a target killing," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Wazir Khan Nasar said. Although no group claimed responsibility for the incident, the killings are reported to be part of a series of sectarian attacks that started in Quetta a couple of months ago. The banned Sunni terrorist group, LeJ, has accepted responsibility for most of the recent attacks.
*
January 26: Frontier Corps personnel had to be called in to maintain law and order in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, after fierce clashes erupted between Police and an angry mob following the killing of Chairman Hazara Democratic Party, Hussain Ali Yousufi of the Shia community. Yousufi, who was running a travel agency on the Dr Bano Road, was entering his office at 10:30am (PST) when some unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets on him with automatic weapons. The armed men later escaped from the incident site. At least 13 persons were injured when clashes among angry protestors, Police and traders took place on the Shahra-e-Iqbal and Jinnah Road. The protesters also torched several vehicles, motorcycles and a bank on the Jinnah Road. Four vehicles, a commercial bank and two motorcycles were set ablaze as clashes continued for several hours. Police later claimed to have arrested 21 suspects, including three activists of a banned religious organization, on charges of killing Hussain Yousufi. The banned Sunni militant group LeJ claimed responsibility for the killing in a telephone call to the local press club. "We claim responsibility for this attack," said the caller, who identified himself as Ali Haider, a purported LeJ spokesman.
2008
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December 22: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior, Rehman Malik, revealed that the banned LeJ carried out the terrorist attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad. Answering a question in the National Assembly, he said investigations into the Marriott attack had been completed. He said the truck used in the attack was loaded with ammunition in Jhang and it entered Islamabad via Rawat. Two boys from Toba Tek Singh, who had been arrested, facilitated the terrorist act and a charge-sheet against them had been submitted in court. On September 20 2008, a suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives at the Marriott Hotel, killing at least 60 persons, including the Czech Ambassador, at least two US marines and several other foreigners. At least 200 people, including a Pakistan People's Party legislator, were injured in the explosion, which ruptured a gas pipeline and triggered a huge blaze. A group calling itself Fedayeen-i-Islam claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.
*
December 17: Authorities discovered that a plot had been hatched by Omar Sheikh to kill Musharraf with the connivance of some LeJ militants, with whom he had in contact for a long time over the phone. Three mobile phones, six batteries, 18 SIMS of almost every cellular company and chargers were seized from Omar's cell. Further scanning of his telephone records revealed he had been making calls all over Pakistan to former jihadi and relatives in Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. LeJ militants had allegedly been monitoring Musharraf's movements to target him while traveling between his Army House residence in Rawalpindi and his Chak Shehzad farmhouse on the 1-A Park Road in the suburbs of Islamabad or to blow up the bridge on Shara-e-Faisal during his next visit to Karachi.
*
November 23: The Taliban are present in Karachi and have links with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and other banned religious organisations, but they have no intention of carrying out attacks in the provincial capital if not provoked by a political party or the Government, said Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Mullah Omer.
*
November 21: The banned Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) may strike in Karachi and "we need to discourage them and increase the vigil," said Adviser on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik. He reportedly said this in a meeting to review law and order in Karachi and Sindh with President Asif Ali Zardari in the chair at the Governor's House in Karachi. He stated that al Qaeda was using the LeJ, SSP and TTP for carrying out its activities.
*
October 15: The staffs of the CID have arrested two criminals who were allegedly supplying automatic weapons to various militant outfits, including Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and the Taliban. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Mohammad Fayyaz Khan of the CID, Sindh, said that the Police arrested the two persons, identified as Omer Hayat and Amjad, along with 6,000 Sub-Machine Gun rounds and two foreign-made pistols from their possession. During the investigation it was discovered that the two arms suppliers were the associates of Noor Sharif (an arms supplier from Dara Adam Khel recently caught by the CID). SSP Khan said that the accused had links with various militant outfits, including the LeJ and the Taliban.
*
September 30: Five suspected terrorists belonging to the LeJ were arrested from a hotel at Gujranwala in Punjab. One of arrested suspects Qari Ilyas alias Abu Bakar, carrying a head money of PKR 2 00000, was convicted in the 1995 assassination attempt on former premier Nawaz Sharif. The Lahore High Court later released him on an appeal.
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September 26: Three would-be suicide bombers, suspected to be cadres of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), were killed along with a handcuffed hostage when one of the bombers blew himself up following a police raid on a house in Karachi.
*
September 8: Police arrested a cadre of the LJ, identified as Zeeshan, in Karachi. He was involved in the Orangi blast.
*
July 27: A top leader of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) was arrested from Quetta for his alleged involvement in several acts of sectarian terrorism. Shafiq-ur-Rehman was involved in suicide bombings on a mosque in 2003 and on an Ashura procession in 2004. The two attacks left over 100 people dead and about 180 injured, Capital City Police Officer Mohammad Akbar told a press conference.
*
July 14: Security agencies arrested a top al Qaeda operative along with his two accomplices in Punjab's southern city of Multan. Tanzanian national Muhammad Al Misri, Anwar Muawiya and Muhammad Shahid were arrested from a shutdown 'Neel Wali Factory' located on the Abdali Road. Unnamed officials said that Al Misri is closely linked with al Qaeda's top hierarchy and is also suspected to be behind the series of suicide attacks in Pakistan following the crackdown on the Lal Masjid (Red mosque). Anwar, a resident of Abbotabad, belongs to the banned Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the sources said, adding Shahid, another LeJ activist, is a local of Multan.
*
April 11: JeM and LeT, the Pakistan-based terrorist groups, are among the 44 outfits designated as 'Foreign Terrorist Organisations' (FTO) by the US. Besides these two, other groups active in India - the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami and Pakistan-based HuM - are also in the FTO list issued by the office of the coordinator for counter terrorism of the US Department of State. "FTO designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressurising groups to get out of the terrorism business," a State Department statement said. Other groups of the South Asia include LTTE and LeJ.
*
February 27: Police in Jhang said that they had arrested three terror suspects carrying two suicide jackets and chemicals in Shorkot on February 26-night. Jhang District Police Officer Amjad Javed stated that the terrorists, identified as Ghulam Shabir, Muhammad Amin and Muhammad Ramazan, were arrested from Mir Wala Bridge and were attempting to target prominent politicians. The three men were suspected to be members of the outlawed Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), APP reported local police officer Pervez Tareen Sardar as having said.
*
February 26: Police in Lahore arrested four members of the banned Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) from Nawankot bus stand in the Kotwali area and seized from them explosives and weapons. The accused confessed, during preliminary interrogation, that they had planned sabotage activities including bomb blasts in Lahore, besides assassination of key political and religious personalities and senior police officials. The arrested militants were identified as Muhammad Asif Ali alias Hasan Moosa, Abdur Rahman, Mureed Ahmad and Fahad Munir. Police officials said that Munir was the nephew of LeJ leader Riaz Basra.
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February 10: The security agencies arrested 40 people suspected to be activists of banned militant groups. Sources said that the operation was launched after the list of militant activists was revised by security agencies after the suicide attack outside the Lahore High Court on January 10. The Ghaziabad police arrested 30 men from a rented house near Muhammadpura railway crossing. Separately, police raided the RA Bazaar and arrested seven suspects. The arrested belonged to the banned Sunni group LeJ and were allegedly involved in the Rawalpindi blast. During another raid in Saddar Bazaar, police arrested three members of the LeJ.
The Mughalpura Superintendent of Police, P. Sajjad Manj, said Rustam Ali, who was a member of the proscribed SSP, owned the house. However, he escaped the raid. Two Kalashnikovs, three 222s, a shotgun and rifles were seized from them.
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January 18: Two LeJ militants escaped from a sub-jail located inside the headquarters of the Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) in the Quetta cantonment area. Usman Saifullah and Shafiqur Rehman were tried by an Anti-Terrorism Court in several cases of sectarian killings, a senior police officer said. The court had sentenced Usman to death for sectarian attacks and Shafiq to life imprisonment in another case. Police said Usman had masterminded numerous sectarian killings and attacks on imambargah (congregation hall for Shia rituals) in Quetta and he had been arrested from Karachi in June 2006. Shafiq was arrested from Mastung in Balochistan in 2007. After the escape, police detained 13 jail and ATF personnel who had been on duty.
Security officials have indicated that the LeJ orchestrated the January 17 suicide attack on an imambargah in Peshawar. "Use of a gun and then a suicide blast is signature method of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi," they said. "The bomber first fired some shots and then blew himself up. The modus operandi is the hallmark of Lashkar militants and it shows they have plans to stoke up sectarian hatred," a senior security official said. The unnamed officials said the LeJ had forged close ties with tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud.
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January 16: The Chakwal police said that they had arrested a suicide bomber and seized eight kilograms of explosive material and other bomb devices from him. Chakwal District Police Officer Maqsood Khan said police raided a house in the Thoha Mehram Khan village and arrested Abdul Ghafoor. "Ghafoor has confessed to have had a plan to kill former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Chakwal District Nazim Sardar Ghulam Abbas at a public meeting that was to be held in Talagang," Khan said, adding that the meeting had been postponed in the wake of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's killing in Rawalpindi. Khan also stated that Ghafoor and his associates were now planning to attack Muharram processions in Chakwal and Talagang. He said 23-year-old Ghafoor was a member of the banned LeJ and HuM. "He also has links with the terrorist group that attacked a Pakistan Air Force bus in Sargodha last year," the officer said.
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January 14: The Interior Ministry has warned security agencies that militants of the LeJ and Taliban are plotting to attack eminent political and religious leaders and religious places in nine cities during Muharram.
2007
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October 3: Afghan security forces arrested four Pakistanis suspected of being suicide bombers from Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. They were reportedly arrested after a raid on a house in the outskirts of the city along with some suicide jackets. All the four hailed from the Punjab province of Pakistan and identified them as Mohammad Hussain, Abdul Rauf, M. Shoaib and Hassan. He said that they were being interrogated and they had disclosed that they belonged to the proscribed LeJ.
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August 26: Police killed Fayyaz Dada, a former member of the banned Sunni militant outfit LeJ who had joined a local gang allegedly dealing in drugs, in Karachi, capital of the Sindh province. Senior police official Fayyaz Khan told AFP that "We had arrested Fayyaz Dada for his alleged involvement in the parcel bomb attacks [October 2003]. He was later released on bail and joined a local drug mafia."
*
July 25: Police in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, arrested Zahoor alias Choota Waqar, an activist of the LeJ. Zahoor belongs to Dera Murad Jamali and is wanted for the killing of important Shiite personalities of Quetta, and two bomb blasts in Shia places of worship.
*
June 11: The Karachi Police has arrested three terrorists and identified the suicide bomber who was allegedly responsible for the Nishtar Park incident in Karachi on April 11, 2006. Two LeJ cadres were arrested during raids in two different areas of Karachi. Based on their information, the police conducted an operation in Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, where it arrested the third alleged terrorist. All three of them, police claimed, had confessed to their involvement in the suicide attack. The suicide bomber has been identified as Siddiq and is said to have hailed from Mansehra in the NWFP. Police said that the attack was planned at Wana in South Waziristan under supervision of LeJ and the local al Qaeda. Karachi Police sources said that the Abdullah Mehsud group was involved in the attack and his cousin Abid Mehsud, resident of Orangi Town in Karachi, planned the attack.
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June 5: Police said that they had arrested two suspected militants wanted in the 2002 abduction-cum-murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl. Attaur Rehman and Faisal Bhatti, both members of the outlawed Sunni group LeJ were arrested along with weapons and explosives while they were in a car traveling towards Balochistan on June 4 in Kashmor, a town northeast of Karachi (capital of Sindh province). However, a lawyer for the duo's families said they were arrested by security agencies in 2003 and have been secretly held in custody since then.
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March 9: Police arrested one Jalil Ahmed Ababaki alias Abubakar of the banned militant group LeJ from the Sukkur district. Jalil was allegedly planning a suicide attack today on a Muharram procession and that a hand grenade, 1.5 kilogrammes of explosive material, seven detonators, four steel switches, two plastic switches, five screws and a jacket used for suicide bombing were recovered from his possession. He also informed that Ababaki belonged to the group of Usman alias Saifullah, who leads Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in Balochistan and is wanted by the Provincial Government with a head money of PKR 1 million.
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February 28: Police arrested a suspected cadre of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and seized seven kilograms of explosives in a raid in Hyderabad on February 28, reports Daily Times. Khalid Korai, a police officer said, "Azimud Din was arrested from a home in Sarfaraz Colony neighbourhood in Hyderabad."
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February 24: Meanwhile, "Police have arrested 40 students and six teachers of Aziz-ul-Aloom, a seminary in Cheechawatni," a police official said, according to Daily Times. "Maulana Alam Tariq, the late Maulana Azam Tariq's brother, is among the arrested," he informed. "The suspects were members of the Sunni extremist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi [LeJ]," police sources said.
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February 15: Police raided a house on Misrial Road in Rawalpindi on February 15 and arrested two men wanted for sectarian attacks on Shias, according to Daily Times. On information that the two men, Usman Chotu and Arshad Satti, cadres of the outlawed Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), planned to carry out suicide attacks, the city police raided the house and arrested them after a brief scuffle. The police also seized five hand grenades, two Kalashnikovs and some explosive material from them.
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February 4: The Lahore Police on February 4 announced that it had arrested five militants of the proscribed Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), including one carrying a head money of PKR One million. Superintendent of Police Umar Virk disclosed that they had arrested the five militants, including Rizwan – for whom the Punjab and Sindh governments had put a bounty of Rs 500,000 each – from the Sattukatla area. He said that Rizwan had taken charge of the LeJ after Akram Lahori's arrest. His accomplices were identified as Ziauddin, Alam, Abdul Sattar alias Riaz and Amjad alias Kala.
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January 22: The Karachi unit Amir (chief) of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), identified as Mohammad Ali alias Mama, was arrested by the police during a raid in the Korangi area of Karachi on January 22-night. Superintendent of Police Fayyaz Khan told Daily Times that Ali was a suspect in the murders of Lyari's Qari Habibur Rehman and Maulana Abdul Kareem Naqshbandi. He is reported to have become the LeJ Karachi unit chief about a year ago. Khan added that Ali trained at Kabul's Shah Ismail training center in 2000. He said the police believed that Ali was planning a terrorist act during the forthcoming Muharram period. Police sources said that a list of possible targets was allegedly recovered from Ali's possession and included the names of some police officers and Shia and Sunni clerics.
2006
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December 31: The intelligence agencies have unearthed a plan of the outlawed Sunni group LeJ to target prominent Shia leaders and scholars and carry out suicide attacks on Shia worship places in various parts of the country. In a report to the Interior Ministry, the agencies said that the LeJ has reactivated its activists for attacks on Shias and their mosques and Imambargahs. The report indicates that LeJ activists could target Shia leaders and scholars in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Khanewal, Layya, Bhakkar, Jhang, Sargodha, Rahimyar Khan, Karachi, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Parachinar, Hangu, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Mirpur Khas and Quetta.
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December 16: Militants belonging to banned Jihadi outfits are planning suicide attacks on army installations in Pakistan and foreign troops in Afghanistan in revenge for the October 31-aerial strike on a Madrassa (seminary) in Bajaur. Maulvi Inayatur Rehman and Maulana Faqir Mohammad of the TNSM have pledged before their supporters to target VIPs in Pakistan and US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. British and U.S. diplomats and nationals are also possible targets of the militants. Leaders of the LeJ, HuM and Khudam-ul-Islam have also pledged to cooperate with the TNSM and called for a joint strategy. The training and enrolment of suicide bombers is the sole responsibility of the LeJ, reports indicate.
*
November 3: The Sindh High Court acquits a cadre of the banned Sunni outfit LeJ sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorist court for killing nine people at a mosque in Karachi during October 1999. An anti-terrorism court in Karachi in May 2002 had awarded life imprisonment to Dildar Hussain alias Dilawar and Saeed Awan, both LeJ activists, for killing nine people and injuring six others at a mosque in the Al-Falah colony.
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October 13: Security agencies have arrested eight people allegedly involved in the Ayub Park blast and for planting anti-tank rockets at different locations in Islamabad last week. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested people had links with the al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi LeJ and had visited Afghanistan many times.
*
October 1: LeJ, the outlawed Sunni group, has reportedly started a recruitment drive and is forming new cells at the district and provincial levels. Matiur Rehman, who is believed to have links with the al Qaeda and is one of the prime suspects in the London airline plot, murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, the multiple assassination plots on President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, and the attack on the US Consulate in Karachi in March 2006 has been tasked with reorganising Lashkar cells. Abdullah Faryad, the LeJ chief at Ditta Khel in the Punjab province, is helping him. September 3: Pukhtoon militants who fought against the US-led invasion of Afghanistan have formed a new anti-Shia militant group. The new militant group is led by Mufti Ilyas and Hazrat Ali of Darra Adam Khel. The group has no links with any other militant groups, including the banned LeJ, and is active in Quetta, Karachi and other major cities in Pakistan. The group has established a supply line of weapons and ammunition between Darra Adam Khel and Karachi.
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August 21: Police arrests two suspected members of the outlawed Sunni group LeJ in Bahawalpur. One of the arrested men is allegedly involved in a plot to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf.
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August 9: Hafiz Shafiqur Rehman, a member of the outlawed Sunni group LeJ, convicted of murdering a rival Shia cleric in 1997, is hanged at the Multan jail.
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August 1: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Multan hands death sentences on seven counts to two LeJ activists, Zahid Husain alias Zada and Shahabuddin, for killing six people, including five police personnel. The court also awarded life imprisonment on seven counts to their accomplice Ghulam Shabbir alias Doctor.
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July 20: SF personnel arrest three LeJ cadres, Abdullah, Sajid and Mohammed Akram, from Khuzdar in the Balochistan province.
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July 18: Security force personnel arrest a LeJ cadre, Arshad Ali alias Movia/Saif ullah, during a raid in Hyderabad in the Sindh province.
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July 6: Six cadres of the LeJ, including the outfit's deputy leader Mohammad Shakir, are arrested for planning attacks targeting a polo festival at Shandur town, bordering the Chitral and Gilgit districts.
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June 21: Security agencies arrest an activist of the proscribed Sunni group LeJ, identified as Ameer Usman Kurd alias Saifullah, from Karachi's Mauripur area.
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June 12: Six activists of the outlawed Sunni group LeJ are arrested from Multan in the Punjab province. Police said that one of the arrested, identified as Nasir, had a Rupees 500,000 bounty on his head.
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June 9: Six LeJ activists, allegedly involved in murder, robbery and sectarian terrorism cases, are arrested during a raid at Rahim Yar Khan in the Punjab province. Suicide-bombing gadgets and a number of weapons had been seized during the raid.
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June 7: The Interior Ministry directs police chiefs of the four provinces, Islamabad and Northern Areas to provide security to prominent Shia leaders and Imambargahs (Shia place of worship). The ministry issues the directive after intelligence agencies reported that activists of the banned Sunni group LeJ were planning to kill Shia leaders.
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May 30: The Multan Anti Terrorism Court sentenced Qari Omar Hayat, an activist of the outlawed Sunni group LeJ, to death on sixteen counts of murder. Hayat was arrested for killing 16 Shias while they were listening to a sermon in a mosque in Muzaffargarh on January 4, 1999. The court also fined the convict Rs 4.8 million. However, 11 co-accused were acquitted of the charges against them because the prosecution failed to prove their involvement.
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May 5: Karachi Police claims that six Lahori group cadres of the outlawed Sunni group LeJ, believed to be involved in the killing of doctors to fan sectarian violence, have been arrested.
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April 3: An anti-terrorism court in the Sahiwal district of Punjab province has sentenced to death a LeJ activist, Naveed Akhtar, for killing advocate Syed Abid Hussain Bukhari and his son Haidar Abbas on July 30, 1997.
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March 31: The Sindh High Court allows the appeals of four LeJ activists, including its chief Akram Lahori, and set aside their convictions on murder recorded by an anti-terrorism court. They were found guilty by the trial court of killing six men and injuring five others while they were praying at the Ali Murtaza mosque in Mehmoodabad on October 4, 2001. Attaullah and Azam were sentenced to death while Lahori and Tassaduq Hussain were given life imprisonment.
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February 26: A Lashkar-e-Jhangvi activist, identified as Muhammad Saleem, is arrested in the Jallah Jeem Town of Mailsi in Punjab province.
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February 13: A Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorist, Munir Baloch, is arrested in the Balochistan province.
*
January 4: Three LeJ terrorists, Maqsood Ahmed Qureshi alias Abbas alias Faisal, Azhar-ul-Haq alias Tariq and Nawaz Khan alias Shosha, are arrested by the Rangers from the Korangi Industrial Area in Karachi.
2005
*
December 13: Police arrest Ihsanullah Shah alias Bara Shah, a member of the LeJ, from the Sadiqabad area in Punjab province. The government had announced a reward of Rupees 500,000 for his capture. Ihsanullah Shah was the kingpin in weapons supply to terrorists.
*
December 5: Intelligence agencies have uncovered a plot by leaders of the banned Sunni outfits, SSP and LeJ, who had directed their operatives to form suicide squads to kill Shia members of the Legislative Council of the Northern Areas.
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November 18: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi indicts five LeJ activists for killing a police constable and an under trial prisoner during an attack on a prisoners' van on February 28, 2002 near Bohra Pir in the Nabi Bux police limits.
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November 3: According to intelligence reports submitted to the Interior Ministry, the LeJ and Jamiat-ul-Furqan (formerly Jaish-e-Mohammed) are trying to "cultivate" a relative of the President who is not on good terms with him or against his policies.
*
November 1: The Karachi Police arrests Muhammad Kashif, an activist of the LeJ, during a raid in the Sultanabad area. The Government of Sindh had fixed Rupees 0.5 million for his capture.
*
October 31: Police in Islamabad arrests four terrorists, including two members of the banned LeJ, who were allegedly planning suicide attacks on a Shia mourning procession in Rawalpindi.
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October 30: The Lahore Police arrests a LeJ cadre, Awais alias Faisal, from the Model Town area.
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October 21: The Karachi Police arrests an activist of the LeJ, identified as Hafiz Qasim Rasheed belonging to the Asif Choto group and carrying a head money of 500,000, after an encounter in the Orangi area.
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September 24: Security agencies, acting on information secured from the arrested LeJ chief Asif Choto, arrested two would-be suicide bombers from a house in Rawalpindi as they made last-minute preparations for attacks.
Security forces arrest Asif Choto, chief of the LeJ, from Motorway near Islamabad. Choto, a 'most wanted terrorist', carried a head money of Rupees 25 million. Authorities regard 29-year-old Asif Choto as the man who introduced suicide bombing in Pakistan. Three more LeJ terrorists are arrested from a house in Rawalpindi.
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September 19: Two suspected LeJ cadres, Ahmed Saeed and Mukhtar Ahmed, are arrested carrying explosives and bomb-making manuals aboard a bus near Faisalabad.
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June 7: The Crimes Investigation Department of Sindh police arrested two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi activists for their alleged involvement in the suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi on May 30. Mufti Altaf alias Mufti Shahid and Qari Bilal Farooqi were arrested near Kamran Chowk in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police jurisdiction of Karachi and five kilograms of explosives, four dynamite sticks and a hand grenade were also recovered from their possession.
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June 4: Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi sentenced a LeJ terrorist to death for masterminding two suicide attacks at two mosques, Masjid Hyderi and Masjid Ali Raza, that killed at least 45 people. Judge Haq Nawaz said the convict, Gul Hasan, was found guilty of masterminding attacks on these mosques in Karachi in May 2004, in which around 127 people were also injured.
*
May 31: The Lahore Police is reported to have arrested a suspected member of the LeJ from Harbanspura. The man, identified as Qazi Manzoor and hailing from southern Punjab, had escaped from Karachi and the Lahore Police arrested him from a house in Harbanspura and subsequently took him to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
*
May 30: Three persons were arrested from Sargodha in the Punjab province on suspicion of having links to the May 27-suicide attack at a Shia mosque in Islamabad in which at least 25 people were killed and over 100 wounded. Dawn has reported that the three, Zafar Iqbal, Mansoor Ahmad and Saeed alias Mistri, belonged to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
*
May 20: The Police in Multan said that they had arrested three LeJ cadres who are suspected of having links with the Al Qaeda. An unnamed police official was quoted as saying in The News that Ali Sher, Haji Ejaz and Pir Jamil were arrested five days ago during a raid at their hideouts on the outskirts of Multan.
*
May 18: Two LeJ cadres were arrested during a raid at a hotel in Lahore. Unconfirmed reports identified them as Mohammed Khaliq and Maulvi Mohammed Sadiq. The latter was wanted by the police for a suspected role in the killing of an Iranian diplomat in 1992 and is believed to be a fund-raiser for the Al Qaeda, an unnamed intelligence official said.
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May 12: The Police at Multan in the Punjab province announced the arrest of Amir Shehzad and Khawaja Ibrahim, members of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi suspected of plotting a series of attacks, including one on the Parliament. District Police Officer, Sikandar Hayat, told Reuters they were part of a network of up to 23 members who had been recruiting 'suicide attackers' for assaults on the National Assembly and Shias.
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May 9: Five LeJ terrorists were reportedly arrested from Karachi for their alleged involvement in 15 sectarian killings. "The suspects have confessed their involvement in the killing of six employees of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission in October 2003," an unnamed police official was quoted as saying in Dawn. They were also allegedly involved in the murder of nine people at a mosque in the Al Falah area during February 2003.
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April 15: According to Daily Times, the Intelligence Bureau has informed Syeda Abida Hussain, former federal minister, that the LeJ was planning to assassinate her.
*
April 8: Australia has re-listed six groups as terrorist organisations, warning that anyone associated with them faces up to 25 years in jail. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock named the six organisations as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad, both Pakistan-based and Asbat al-Ansar, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Islamic Army of Aden.
*
March 30: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi sentenced an Afghanistan-born activist of the LeJ to death on two counts in the murder case of two Iranian owners of a bakery. Ghulam Hussain, the 45-year-old Iranian owner of Subhanullah Bakery, and his 18-year-old nephew were shot dead by Abdul Wahab Afghani at their shop on M. A. Jinnah Road in Karachi on February 27, 2004.
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March 6: A Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorist, Haji Nisar Ahmad, who was wanted in different terrorist cases across Pakistan, was reportedly arrested at Okara in the Punjab province.
*
March 4: A LeJ terrorist, Ramzan Mengal, is reported to have been arrested from Quetta, capital of the Balochistan province, for his alleged involvement in a number of sectarian killings in the city. Mengal was arrested from the New Saraib area, Capital City Police Officer, Rafi Pervez Bhatti, said. He was responsible for a number of sectarian killings between 2001 and 2004 and carried a Rupees 1 million bounty on his head.
*
February 27: The Karachi Police is reported to have arrested two LeJ cadres along with hand-grenades near a Church in the Sadar area. The arrested terrorists were identified as Ishaque alias Saad and Imran alias Bakreywala.
*
February 25: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Multan is reported to have sentenced to death two activists of the LeJ. Ghulam Shabbir and Zahid Hussain were sentenced on four counts for killing three police personnel in Multan on May 26, 1999. While the Court fined them Rupees 100,000 each, three persons were acquitted.
*
February 18: Two suspected terrorists of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi reportedly blew themselves up with hand grenades during an exchange of fire with the police at Ghilzai road in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province. Police said the two bombers were planning to attack an Ashura-e-Muharrum procession of the Shias that was to pass through Ghilzai road on the same night.
*
February 14: Seven LeJ activists, who were allegedly involved in two sectarian attacks during 2003 in which at least 100 people died, were arrested in the Balochistan province. The arrests occurred during separate raids in Dera Murad Jamali, a town about 300 kilometers southeast of provincial capital Quetta, said Police Officer, Choudhury Mohammed Yaqoob.
*
February 11: An anti-terrorism court in Multan proclaimed two death sentences to Muhammad Tariq, an activist of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, for killing two Shias on June 6, 1998, in Multan. However, the court acquitted four of his associates. According to Daily Times, "Tariq and his accomplices assaulted Dr Shafqat Raza's clinic in Timber Market on June 6, 1998 and opened fire. Dr Raza's younger brother Nusrat Raza and a patient died on the spot."
*
February 8: Karachi Police is reported to have arrested four terrorists suspected of planning suicide attacks on Shia processions during the holy festival of Muharram. Police found approximately 17 kilograms of explosives and other material used for bomb making during an overnight raid on a hideout in the Civil Lines area. One of the four, identified as Mohammed Asghar, belonged to the LeJ, said Gul Hameed Soomo, Additional Inspector General of Police. The other three – Mohsin Khan, Saeed Omar and Mohammed Zahid – belonged to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Almi (HuMA) group, he added. Police sources also said the suspects had been trained in Wana, South Waziristan.
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January 26: A team of Special Investigation Group personnel has reportedly identified the killer of Shia leader Syed Agha Ziauddin Rizvi in Gilgit as Mukhtiar Ahmad, an activist of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
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January 24: Daily Times reported that officials of the Karachi Central Prison (KCP) recovered a hit list of police officials from the chief of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Akram Lahori, during the last week of December 2004. The list reportedly contained names of police officials involved in an operation against hardcore elements of extremist religious parties. Sources said Prison officials recovered the letter during a search of Lahori's luggage after he was shifted to the KCP from Kot Lakhpat jail in December
*
January 7: Five LeJ terrorists were reportedly arrested from the Harbanspura area in Lahore. According to Daily Times, the detainees who included a woman were taken to an unidentified location for further investigations, sources said, adding that a large number of weapons including grenades, automatic rifles and bullets were seized.
*
January 4: Police in the Chitral district of NWFP arrests two LeJ activists for their alleged involvement in an attack on the offices of Aga Khan Health Services and killing two of its workers on December 26, 2004. District Police Officer of Chitral, Muhammad Saeed Khan, was quoted as saying in The News that the accused were locals, identified as Juma Khan and Rafiq.
2004
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December 13: The Multan Police arrests five LeJ cadres.
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December 10: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad convicts four LeJ terrorists to death for the year 2002 massacre of 14 people. On February 26, 2002, LeJ cadres had stormed into the Shah Najaf mosque in Rawalpindi and killed 14 people.
*
October 27: The terrorist who blew himself up at the entrance of a Shia mosque in Mochi Gate in Lahore on October 10, killing at least three people and injuring eight, was identified as a resident of Haripur and is linked to the banned LeJ.
*
October 13: In Lahore, a LeJ terrorist, who is allegedly involved in a number of sectarian killings and several bombings, was arrested from Khairpur. Khawaja Muhammad Waseem was heading a group of three highly trained men and bomb specialists.
*
September 25: At least three police personnel and a suspected Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorist were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a senior Pakistani police officer in Quetta.
*
September 21: The Quetta police said that it had arrested a gang of sectarian terrorists trained in Afghanistan and suspected of involvement in the massacre of dozens of minority Shia Muslims. City police chief Pervaiz Rafi Bhatti said, "We have arrested [in recent weeks] 10 most wanted men accused of involvement in sectarian killings". Among those arrested were reportedly the "mastermind" Daud Badani and his accomplices who belonged to the LeJ.
*
September 2: Two cadres of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, identified as Liaqat alias Abid and Rauf alias Mitha, were arrested from Lahore during the last week for allegedly planning to carry out terrorist strikes targeting Shia mosques. Over a dozen pistols, two AK-47 rifles and 18 rockets with launchers were seized from their Jhang hideout.
*
August 19: Police in Multan are reported to have arrested Muhammad Shafiq alias Hasnain Ali, a LeJ terrorist, from an undisclosed location. Shafiq was wanted in several cases of terrorism, including the two murder cases registered with the Civil Lines and Samasatta police stations of the Bahawalpur district.
*
July 19: Police in Multan arrested Hidayatullah and Mohammed Shahid, two LeJ terrorists. They were reportedly re-organising the network and possessed a hit list of police officials and Shia clerics, said Hamid Mukhtar Gondal, District Police Officer (DPO). The DPO also said Hidayatullah and other members of his group in 1999 opened fire on a Shia mosque in village Karam Dad, 75km west of Multan, killing 15 people.
*
July 6: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi awarded death penalty on many counts, imprisonment and fine to three detained cadres of the LeJ. The judge reportedly convicted and sentenced the accused, identified as Attaullah, Azam and Muhammad Riaz, in about five cases. The three activists were convicted in five separate terrorism cases, including the killing of a Shia cleric in May 2001. They also reportedly killed a Shia doctor and a businessman the same year.
*
July 1: The LeJ has prepared women suicide bombers for attacking Shia places of worship in Karachi, a suspected mastermind of bomb blasts at two mosques is reported to have disclosed to the police. Police officer Manzoor Mughal said that Gul Hasan had disclosed during interrogation that LeJ had brainwashed a few girls aged between 16 and 20 years. The girls, reportedly persuaded to explode themselves in the women's areas of mosques, would be wearing veils or school uniform, carrying handbags. Hasan had trained the suicide bombers who attacked the Hyderi mosque on May 7, and the Ali Raza mosque on May 31, killing 47 people.
*
June 14: The paramilitary Rangers in Karachi announced the arrest of a LeJ terrorist who was allegedly involved in the two suicide bombings in Quetta in the last two years, which killed over 100 Shias. Dawood Badini is reported to have been arrested on June 12 from the Federal B Area in Karachi where he had taken refuge after fleeing from Quetta. Director-General of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), Maj. Gen. Javed Zia stated that Badini masterminded a series of terrorist attacks targeting the Shia community in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province. He is alleged to have masterminded the killing of 12 Shia police recruits on June 8, 2003, and the killing of at least 54 Shias in a mosque in July 2003.
*
May 31: The outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is reported to be the prime suspect in a suicide attack on a Shia mosque in Karachi that killed at least 24 people on May 31. Police have suspected the suicide bomber belonged to the LeJ, said senior investigating officer Gul Hasan Sammo. "Lashkar is our main suspect as it made similar attacks on Shias in the past," he said.
*
May 16: The two suicide bombers involved in the March 2-attack on a Shia procession in the Liaquat Bazaar area of Quetta were identified as members of the outlawed Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
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May 11: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi convicted two LeJ activists and sentenced them to life imprisonment in a February 2003-bomb blast case. Abdul Wahab Afghani and Shah Nawaz alias Shani were prosecuted on charges of planting a bomb in a parking area near the PSO House on February 3, 2003. One person died while two others were injured in the explosion.
*
April 25: Police in Karachi arrested a terrorist affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi from the Nazimabad area and recovered one Kalashnikov and two TT pistols from him.
*
April 16: Two LeJ terrorists, including a suspect in the abduction-cum-murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, were arrested in Lahore. Malik Tasaddaq was arrested on suspicion of involvement in Pearl's killing, Punjab Inspector General Police Saadatullah Khan said.
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April 1: Police in Karachi reportedly foiled an attack on Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali with the arrest of a terrorist affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The man was found with about six kilograms of explosives, a hand grenade, several detonators and bomb making material, said Police Inspector Amjad Kiyani.
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March 7: Police in Karachi arrests two terrorists of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi during a raid in the Zaman Town area.
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March 5: Senator Lt General (retd.) Javed Ashraf Qazi said in Parliament that the proscribed Sunni group LeJ ""¦are producing zombies to kill their Muslim brothers."
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February 26: Police in Lahore arrests Muavie Ramzi, a terrorist of the proscribed Sunni group LeJ carrying Rupees one million as head money.
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February 17: The Karachi Police formally announced the arrests of two LeJ terrorists.
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February 11: The Karachi Police arrests two activists of the outlawed Sunni group LeJ from the Gulistan-e-Jauhar area.
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January 21: The Crime Investigation Department recovers some belongings of the late Asif Ramzi, who headed a group of the banned LeJ, and killed in December 2002 while making explosives in a house in Korangi, from a house in Karachi where two activists of the outlawed Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi, Inamullah and Shakeel were arrested.
2003
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December 19: The Karachi police arrests two LeJ activists from an undisclosed locality.
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December 9: Police in Karachi arrests a terrorist affiliated to the outlawed Sunni group LeJ from the Korangi area.
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November 15: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi awards death sentence to Muhammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori, 'commander-in-chief' of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and three of his associates.
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October 6: Maulana Azam Tariq, leader of the outlawed Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and Member of National Assembly, is assassinated along with four others in Islamabad.
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September 28: Karachi Police arrest Muhammad Aslam Jhangvi, a front ranking LeJ terrorist. Allegedly involved in the killing of 12 persons in Mailsi in year 2000, the Government had announced a reward of Rupees 3 million for his arrest.
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September 26: Karachi Police announces the arrest of three LeJ terrorists. They also reportedly recovered six bombs and 17 detonators which police believe were meant for use against Western targets in Karachi in the next few days. They were arrested from the Shadman Town area of Karachi where police recovered a bunker in which the bombs and other explosives had been concealed.
*
September 24: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi sentences Attaullah, a terrorist of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), for killing a security guard of a Shia mosque. The court, however, acquitted three other cadres of the outfit in the murder case.
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September 21: Police in Karachi arrest three LeJ terrorists during separate raids in the city.
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September 17: A report on the August 11-sectarian clash in Kalore Kot sent to Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi indicates that the LeJ is regrouping in Punjab and public gatherings by Maulana Azam Tariq's Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan (the new name for the proscribed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan) are the main cause of increasing sectarian disharmony in the province.
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September 11: Police in Multan arrest three suspected LeJ terrorists during a raid on a house in the Dunyapur area.
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September 6: Karachi Police arrest Farooq, a LeJ terrorist, from the Pak Colony area. He is reported to have revealed that he was planning to attack a mosque in the area.
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August 19: Two LeJ activists are awarded death sentence by a court in Karachi for their role in the killing of six persons at a mosque on October 4, 2001.
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July 16: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claims responsibility for the July 4-Quetta mosque attack in which at least 53 persons were killed.
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July 5: Police in Lahore arrest seven LeJ terrorists from a house in the Ghaziabad area on suspicion that they were involved in the July 4-Quetta massacre.
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June 24: Police arrest Hafiz Tayyab, an LeJ terrorist, during a raid on a house in Buraywala, a remote village 150 kilometers northeast of Multan
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June 23: Police in Multan arrest five LeJ terrorists, including its Punjab provincial chief.
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June 9: Four LeJ terrorists are arrested during raids in different parts of Lahore. Muhammad Saeed, one of those arrested, had a reward of Rupees 600,000 for his arrest.
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May 29: Qari Abdul Hayee, acting chief of LeJ, is arrested during a surprise raid conducted at Basti Allah Buksh in Sher Sultan, Muzaffargarh district.
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May 28: Crime Investigation Department of Karachi police arrests three LeJ terrorists and recover an unspecified quantity of weapons and a motorcycle allegedly used by their leader Asif Ramzi, who died in a blast on December 19, 2002.
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May 13: According to a media report, a former 'commander' of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Abdul Jabbar, has joined the LeJ and is likely to head it. Jabbar, who joined the JeM in March 2000, is reported to have trained most of the LeJ cadres. He was reportedly expelled from the Jaish in March 2003.
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April 26: An Anti-terrorism court in Karachi sentences to death Akram Lahori, LeJ chief, and his two associates on three counts of sectarian murders.
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April 16: A Multan Anti-Terrorist Court acquits six LeJ activists for lack of evidence in a case of sectarian killing.
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April 11: Anti-Terrorism court in Karachi awards death sentence to a LeJ activist, Faisal alias Pehlwan, for assassinating Sunni Tehrik chief Saleem Qadri and four others in the Baldia Town on May 18, 2001.
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April 7: Police in Multan arrest three LeJ terrorists after an unsuccessful attempt to kill a police officer in Vehari area, in a suicide attack.
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April 1: Pakistani authorities claim they have arrested Shabbir Ahmed alias Fauji, acting LeJ chief, in Sameejabad locality, Multan. Ahmed, carrying a head money of Rs one million on his head, is accused of involvement in the killing of several minority Muslim Shias.
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March 13:Front ranking LeJ terrorist Muhamad Farhan Dada alias Abu Bakar is arrested in Karachi.
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March 12: Sindh Police chief Syed Kamal Shah says that an LeJ terrorist arrested on March 7 has confessed to his involvement in the massacre of nine Shias at a mosque in Karachi on February 22.
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February 7: Police in Mailsi arrest a LeJ terrorist allegedly involved in the October 28, 2001 Bahawalpur massacre.
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January 30: The United States designates Lashkar-e-Jhangvi as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.
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January 22: Self-styled LeJ chief Akram Lahori and his two associates deny before an anti-terrorism court in Karachi their involvement in the July 2001-murder of Shaukat Mirza, the Managing Director of a public sector organisation.
2002
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December 19: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi chief Ramzi and six others are killed in an explosion at a house in Allahwala Town, Korangi area, Karachi.
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December 9: Sindh Home Department announces a reward of rupees three million for the arrest of LeJ terrorist Saud Memon wanted in several cases of sectarian violence.
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November 25: Attaullah alias Qasim, under-trial prisoner and accomplice of LeJ chief Akram Lahori, escapes from Karachi Central Prison. He is re-arrested later by police from Osmania Colony.
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November 12: Karachi police claim arrest of front ranking LeJ terrorist Mohammad Asif alias Asif Shadmanwala.
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November 1: Capt Syed Imran Zaidi, a doctor, is killed by LeJ terrorists at his clinic on Wazeer Ali Road, in Lahore.
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Police in Jhang arrest six LeJ terrorists for alleged involvement in terrorist activities.
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October 17: Six suspected LeJ cadres are arrested from various places in Karachi in connection with the October 16-parcel bomb explosions.
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October 16: LeJ claims responsibility for three-parcel bomb explosions in Karachi in which eight police personnel and a civilian are injured.
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September 30: Suspected LeJ terrorists kill a Shia school-teacher in an attack on a primary school in Shakoor village, Charsada district.
September 29: Two LeJ terrorists kill themselves to avoid arrest while a third manages to escape after an 18-hour-long encounter with Jhang police near Jamiabad.
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September 8: Four LeJ terrorists killed in Kehror Pucca area, Lodhran district, in an encounter.
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August 22: Two front-ranking LeJ terrorists carrying a collective head money of Rupees 0.6 million arrested from their hideout near Chak in Vehari.
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July 28: Six LeJ terrorists killed in an encounter near Bahawalpur.
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July 22: Vehari police arrest four LeJ terrorists in connection with the October 28, 2001-Bahawalpur church attack in which a police personnel and 17 Christians, including five children, were killed and nine more injured.
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July 20: Four LeJ cadres arrested by Jhang police.
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July 9: Two LeJ terrorists arrested in Multan.
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July 3: Hafiz Mohammad Ishfaq, a front ranking LeJ terrorist, arrested in Badhber area, Peshawar, for alleged involvement in a number of sectarian killings.
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July 1: Akram Lahori, front ranking LeJ terrorist, confesses of involvement in 38 cases of sectarian killings in Sindh.
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June 29: Karachi police publish photos of five LeJ terrorists wanted in the abduction-cum-murder case of US journalist Daniel Pearl and also two car-bomb attacks on Western targets in Karachi.
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June 27: Two arrested LeJ terrorists, Akram Lahori and Attaur Rehman alias Naim Bukhari, confess to their involvement in the June 14-car bomb blast outside the US Consulate General in Karachi.
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June 25: Multan Anti-terrorism Court sentences two LeJ activists to death on two counts for killing two persons on April 26, 2000, in Khanewal.
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June 17: Karachi police arrest Akram Lahori, front ranking LeJ terrorist and five accomplices from a hideout in Orangi Town.
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June 3: Multan Anti-terrorism Court awards capital punishment on two counts to an LeJ cadre for killing two police personnel on August 13, 2000.
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May 30: Gujranwala anti-terrorism court issues death warrants to two LeJ cadres for killing a former Gujranwala police personnel and his driver on May 6, 1997.
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May 14: LeJ chief Riaz Basra and three associates killed in an encounter in Mailsi, Multan.
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April 4: LeJ 'commander' killed in an encounter in Gulshan town near Karachi.
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April 4: Lal Din alias Arif Lalu, alleged Karachi unit chief of LeJ, killed in Sindh encounter.
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March 13: Three LeJ terrorists killed in Vehari encounter.
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March 11: Top-LeJ terrorist wanted in approximately 150 acts of terrorism killed in Bahawalpur encounter.
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January 21: Reports say Riaz Basra, LeJ chief, has been arrested in Faisalabad.
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January 1: Riaz Basra, LeJ chief, reported detained after returning from Afghanistan. He and several of his associates are reportedly arrested from North Waziristan during the week ending December 30, 2001.
2001
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December 16: Sub-divisional police officer, promoted to the rank in recognition of his work against sectarian outfits, and his driver killed by suspected LeJ terrorists in Johar Town, Lahore.
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November 30: At least two dozen LeJ terrorists are reported either killed in Mazar-e-Sharif, or trapped in Kunduz, Afghanistan.
*
November 15: A Shia industrialist was killed in Karachi.
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October 10: Sindh Board of Technical Education Chairman Syed Hassan Zaidi was killed in Karachi.
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October 4: Seven persons were killed in a mosque in Karachi.
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September 12: A chief priest of a mosque and his two sons were killed in Karachi.
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September 10: A retired army officer and a government official were killed in Karachi.
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September 4: Chief priest of Hussainiya Sajjadiya mosque, Maulana Hussnain Naqvi, shot dead in Karachi.
*
September 1: Three persons were killed in Karachi.
*
August 29: Masked LeJ terrorists killed a civil engineer in Quetta.
*
July 30: Syed Zafar Hussain, Director, Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence was killed in Karachi.
*
July 30: The Imam (priest) of a Shia mosque in Karachi was killed
*
July 28: Former Minister Mohammad Siddique Kanju and another were killed in Multan.
*
July 26: Shaukat Raza Mirza, Managing Director, Pakistan State Oil, and his driver were shot dead in Karachi.
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July 24: Shia leader Syed Ziaul Hassan Kirmani was killed in Mailsi.
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July 9 Two persons gunned down outside a mosque in Karachi.
*
June 27: Top Shia leader was gunned down in Dera Ismail Khan.
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June 14: Two Shias were shot dead in Multan.
*
May 31: A doctor was killed in in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi.
*
May 18: Sunni Tehrik Chief and six others were shot dead in Karachi.
*
May 7: A Senior Superintendent of Police was shot dead in Dera Ismail Khan.
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April 28: A police personnel was killed in Karachi.
*
April 3: A former Tehreek-e-Jaferia Pakistan (TJP) leader was shot dead in Vehari.
*
March 4: 12 persons, including two police personnel were killed in attacks on Shias in Sheikhupura district, some 40 kilometres east of the Punjab provincial capital Lahore.
*
February 22: A lawyer was killed in Gujranwala.
*
February 22: A former police officer and his son were shot dead in Karachi.
*
February 18: Three persons killed in a sectarian attack in Faisalabad.
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Febuary 6: Two TJP activists shot dead in Karachi.
*
January 20:A Iranian religious scholar was killed in Karachi.
2000
*
December 16: A police officer and his driver were killed in Lahore.
*
December 4: Human rights activist and a former Pakistan People's Party Minister, Syed Zakir Hussain Shah injured in Rawalpindi
*
November 24: TTJP Secretary-General Anwar Ali Akhunzada shot dead in Peshawar.
*
June 14: A Lashkar-e-Jhangvi cadre confesses to killing 6 Shia leaders.
*
May 15: Advocate Syed Sardar Jafary, President of Voice of Shia Organisation killed in Karachi.
*
May 2: Three persons killed in Karachi.
*
April 26: Two advocates were killed in Khanewal.
*
April 12: 17 persons were killed in an attack on a mosque in Malohwali.
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April 7: TJP leader Syed Waqar Hussain Naqvi was shot dead along with his son and driver.
1999
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October 7: A Pakistan Television (PTV) official was shot dead in Rawalpindi.
*
October 1: 9 persons were killed in the Malir mosque in Karachi.
*
September 28: An advocate, his daughter and guard were shot dead near Bannu.
1998
*
September 29: A Police personnel was killed in Multan.
*
September 22: Five persons were shot dead in an attack on a mosque near Multan.
*
August 5: Shia leader Allama Arif Hussain Al Hussaini was killed in Peshawar
*
March 30: Three persons were killed in Multan.
*
February 21:Two Iranian engineers were killed in Karachi.
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January 11: 22 Shias were massacred in Lahore.
1997
*
November 3: Two brothers were killed in Sialkot.
*
May 6: A police officer and his driver were killed in Lahore.
*
February 20: Seven persons, including an Iranian diplomat, were killed at the Iranian Centre in Multan.
1996
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September 12: Shia leader Allama Mureed Abbas Yazdani was shot dead in Islamabad.
