The Lashkar al-Zil or Shadow Army (also known as Jaish al Usrah, or the ''Army of the Protective Shield'') is a paramilitary organization linked to

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

and descended from the

055 Brigade The 055 Brigade (or 55th Arab Brigade) was a guerrilla organization sponsored and trained by Al Qaeda that was integrated into the Taliban army between 1995 and 2001. Composition and role The unit consisted mostly of foreign guerrilla fighters ( ...

. According to

Syed Saleem Shahzad Syed Saleem Shahzad ( ur, , 3 November 1970 – 30 May 2011) was a Pakistani investigative journalist who wrote widely for leading European and Asian media. He served as the Pakistan Bureau Chief of Asia Times Online (Hong Kong) and Italian new ...

, it "comprises the

Pakistani Taliban The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bor ...

313 Brigade __NOTOC__ Year 313 ( CCCXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, yea ...

, the Afghan

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

Hezb-e-Islami Hezb-e-Islami (also ''Hezb-e Islami'', ''Hezb-i-Islami'', ''Hezbi-Islami'', ''Hezbi Islami''), lit. Islamic Party, was an Islamist organization that was commonly known for fighting the Communist Government of Afghanistan and their close ally ...

Afghanistan and former Iraqi Republican Guards". Lashkar al-Zil has reportedly been led by Khalid Habib al Shami (killed October 2008),

Abdullah Said al Libi Abdullah Said al-Libi is described as being an al Qaeda operational leader in Pakistan. He is reported to have previously served in the Libyan military. He led an al-Qaeda paramilitary force. Said al-Libi was killed in a drone strike on 17 De ...

(killed December 2009), and

Ilyas Kashmiri Ilyas Kashmiri, also referred to as Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri, Mufti Ilyas Kashmiri and Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri (10 February 1964 – 3 June 2011), was a Pakistani ex-Special Forces Islamist guerrilla insurgent who fought against India in K ...

(killed June 3, 2011). The Lashkar al-Zil has been involved in attacks in Afghanistan's eastern and southern provinces. News reports have linked it to several specific attacks, including the

Camp Chapman attack Forward Operating Base Chapman was a United States Armed Forces Forward Operating Base located in Khost province, Afghanistan. As a prominent U.S. base, it was a repeated target of terror attacks. There have been at least seven attacks; th ...

(December 30, 2009) and the

Sudhnati The Sudhanoti District (also spelled Sudhanuti District) ( ur, ), meaning the "heartland of Sudhans" or "Sudhan heartland"), is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan's dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. The Sudhanoti District is bounded on the ...

suicide bombing (January 6, 2010).

References

Al-Qaeda activities Terrorism in Afghanistan Military units and formations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) {{Afghanistan-stub