The United Jihad Council, also known as the Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC), is an Islamist

Jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

organisation formed by the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

for unified command and control over the anti-Indian terror groups operating in

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

. It was formed in the summer of 1994 and is currently headed by Syed Salahuddin, the leader of

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahideen ( ar, حزب المجاھدین, ), is an Islamist militant organization operating in the Kashmir region. Its goal is to separate Kashmir from India and merge it with Pakistan. * * * It i ...

. The organisation was created to unify and focus efforts of various armed militant groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir. This made distribution of resources like arms, ammunition, propaganda materials and communications more streamlined. It also made it easier to coordinate and pool resources of various militant groups to collect information, plan operations and strike at targets of military importance inside Indian administered

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. The militant group has 13 affiliates. Some of the group members are: Harakat-ul-Ansar,

, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Jihad, Al-Barq,

Al-Badr Al Badr is a village in Mecca Province, in western Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it ...

, Ikhwan-ul-Mussalmin, and Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen. By early 1999, as many as fifteen organisations were affiliated with the Council, though of these only five were considered influential:

Lashkar-e-Toiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...

, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen,

Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Harkat-ul-Mujahideen- al-Islami ( ur, ; HUM) is a Pakistan-based Islamic jihad group operating primarily in Kashmir.Hizbul Mujahideen Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahideen ( ar, حزب المجاھدین, ), is an Islamism, Islamist militant organization operating in the Kashmir region. Its goal is to separate Kashmir Valley, Kashmir from India and merge it with ...

for fighting in Kashmir. He had threatened to start attacking Pakistan if the latter stopped backing the separatist militants in Jammu and Kashmir. He claimed the militants were fighting "Pakistan's war". The group claimed responsibility for the

2016 Pathankot attack The 2016 Pathankot attack was a terrorist attack committed on 2 January 2016 by a heavily armed group of Islamic militants which attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force. Four attacke ...

, carried out on Pathankot Air Base administered by the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct ...

on 3 January 2016. The incident claimed 14 casualties, including 7 security personnel, 1 civilian, and 6 attackers.

References

Bibliography

* {{citation , first=Christopher , last=Snedden , author-link=Christopher Snedden , title=Kashmir: The Unwritten History , publisher=HarperCollins India , year=2013 , isbn=978-9350298985 , orig-year=first published as ''The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir'', 2012 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0cPjAAAAQBAJ 1994 establishments in Jammu and Kashmir Jihadist groups in Jammu and Kashmir