A Department of Homeland Security Emeritus Center of Excellence led by the University of Maryland

BAAD - Lashkar-e-Jhangvi - 2012

 

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) is a Sunni extremist group founded in 1996 in Pakistan.[1] The group seeks to transform Pakistan into a Sunni state by violent means, targeting the nation’s Shiite minority and furthering the sectarian violence within the already intense Sunni-Shiite conflict.[2] The LeJ originally formed as a splinter of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a similar sectarian extremist organization, after members began to feel the SSP had strayed too far from the ideals of its late co-founder, Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi.[3] These founding members and leaders of the LeJ’s radical movement include Riaz Basra, Malik Ishaq, and Akram Lahori, with Ishaq still maintaining power over the organization today.[4]
The group’s violent tactics have gained international attention, and the group is designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union, as well as their home base, Pakistan.[5] The group has collaborated with other radical organizations, such as the Taliban and al-Qa’ida, including fighting alongside the organizations throughout the 1990s. Such relationships enhanced the group’s level of threat to enemies, making them one of the deadliest organizations in Pakistan despite their small scale and limited membership.[6] Little is known about the financing of the group; however, it has been concluded through reports of jailed militants that the LeJ receives funding from other violent groups in Saudi Arabia.[7] The Sunni-Wahabi sheikdoms of the Middle East that share in the same goal of eliminating the Shiite presence in the Middle East also serve as a monetary source.[8] While the organization has remained out of the spotlight in recent years, having not committed any major publicized attacks since 2010, they remain an active threat.[9] View full narrative

Quick Facts for 2012

Founded:
1996

Fatalities:
656 (Total of 1998 through 2012)

Ideologies:
Religious

Strength:
Low hundreds

Territorial Control:
Does Not Control Territory (0)

Funding through Drug Trafficking:
Yes

Sorry, but there are no organizational details available for this group at this time.

Legend

Primary Ideology

  • Ag = Anti-Globalization
  • An = Anarchist
  • En = Ethnic
  • Ev = Environmental
  • Le = Leftist
  • Re = Religious
  • Ri = Rightist
  • Se = Separatist
  • Su = Supremacist
  • Vi = Vigilante

Relationship

  •  Ally
  •  Suspected Ally
  •  Rival
  •  Violence
  •  Mixed Relations

Lethality

  •  Blue 0 - 1479 fatalities
  •  Green 1479 - 2958 fatalities
  •  Yellow 2958 - 4437 fatalities
  •  Orange 4437 - 5916 fatalities
  •  Red 5916 - 7396 fatalities

Lethality is calculated as the total number of fatalities from 1998-2012.

Strength

Icon sizes depict approximate relative sizes of the organizations.

  • Smallest 0 - 10 members
  •   11 - 100 members
  •   101 - 1000 members
  •   1001 - 10000 members
  • Largest > 10000 members

Other Notes

Icons with no color coding or ideology icon have no detailed data at this time, and are provided as relationship information only.