Terrorist Organization Profile:
Harkat ul-Ansar

The group was created, allegedly with the support of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as a result of the fusion of two terrorist groups that participated in the Afghan jihad, Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami and Harkat ul-Mujahideen. The Indian government also alleged that the ISI provided arms and training to the HUA.

HUA tactics of choice included bombings, kidnappings, and armed attacks mainly directed at Indian security forces and civilians in Kashmir. In June 1994, members of the HUA uncharacteristically kidnapped two foreign tourists in Kashmir, supposedly to draw international attention to human rights abuses being committed by the Indian army. The hostages were released unharmed 17 days later.

Some claim that HUA was the terrorist wing of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islami (JUI), a conservative Islamic political party in Pakistan. It is also suspected that al-Faran is an HUA front organization. In July 1995, al-Faran claimed responsibility for kidnapping six foreign tourists traveling in Kashmir. After the kidnappers' demand for the release of Kashmiri rebels in Indian custody was rejected, it emerged that two al-Faran commanders were also members of Harkat ul-Mujahideen.

Learn more about these U.S. Department of State classifications:

Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)

Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL)