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300px, Terrorists who trained at camps in Afghanistan and fought in insurgencies around the world during the 1990s An Afghan jihadist camp, or an Afghan training camp, is a term used to describe a camp or facility used for militant training located in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. At the time of the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in 2001, Indian intelligence officials estimated that there were over 120 jihadist camps operating in Afghanistan and
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, run by a variety of militant groups. During the Afghan Civil War, the country was in a disordered state which was advantageous for international terrorists in the 1990s, especially al-Qaeda and various other groups like
Jaish-e-Mohammed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is a Pakistani Deobandi jihadist Islamist militant group active in Kashmir.: "as soon as he was freed, Masood Azhar was back in Pakistan where he founded a new jihadist movement, Jaish-e-Mohammed, which became one of ...
. These camps would eventually be used for training
jihadists Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Islamic movements that seek to establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation is an efficient and theologically legit ...
who would fight in various places, including
Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, 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 P ...
,
Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...
,
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
,
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
, and Xinjiang (China). In 2002, journalists with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' examined the sites of several former training camps, finding 5,000 documents. According to ''The New York Times'': On July 25, 2007, scholars at the
Combating Terrorism Center The Combating Terrorism Center is an academic institution at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York that provides education, research and policy analysis in the specialty areas of terrorism, counterterrorism, homeland ...
at the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
published a study that named over two dozen training camps allegedly attended by
Guantanamo captives The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...
. In the al-Qaeda document, ''Military Studies in the Jihad Against Tyrants,'' a series of rules for training camps were laid out.


History

Afghan training camps have been functioning for decades. It is believed that several thousand camps were established throughout Afghanistan in the 1980s for training the Afghan Mujahideen during the
Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
. These camps have historically not only provided militant and physical training but also an extensive training and devotion to Islamic history and faith. Training was also originally provided by seasoned veterans of other armed forces around the world. For example,
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
once opened a camp for non-Afghan fighters that was led by two former Egyptian servicemen.


Curriculum

While in attendance at these camps, the majority of the recruits’ work revolves around physical training and spiritual devotion. While physical training is important to some operations, theology seems to be the most important task during training. Recruits are asked to memorize sacred texts and engage in prayer throughout the day's activities. Recruits also learn to operate weapons, how to produce explosives and poisons, vehicle driving and maintenance, basic engineering, farming and urban guerilla tactics. In addition to these trainings recruits are also subject to mazes, obstacle courses, trenches, and classroom lectures.


Admission to camps

According to captured documents, there are guidelines that recruits must satisfy before entering the camp. First, trainees are screened. They are evaluated on ethnicity, their devotion, and their willingness to fight. One entrance form states that recruits must leave behind all valuables, not prepare food while in the camp, obey regulations, and certify that they are in good health for training. The entrance form also asks recruits about their prior military and combat experience. Secrecy is of the utmost importance, so it is common for the recruits inside the camp to not to know fellow recruits’ or instructors’ names. In most cases, the recruits at these camps do not actually know the location of their camp. Trainees are also always kept in small groups of 7 to 10. Camps are also generally located in a desolate area, suitable for militant training, and physical training. One document also notes the camps usually have few entrances and exits.


Known locations of Afghan training camps


See also

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Terrorist training camp A terrorist training camp is a facility established to train individuals in the ways of terrorism. By teaching them the methods and tactics of terrorism, those conducting such facilities aim to create an "army" of individuals who will do their b ...


References

{{TrainingCamp, state=collapsed Terrorism in Afghanistan Afghan training camps