Jundallah | |
---|---|
Active | 1996-present |
Ideology |
Sunni Islam Salafist Jihadism Central Asian Caliphate |
Strength | 10,000-12,000 400-500-1,000 |
Part of |
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2014–present) Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (1996–2014) |
Allies | |
Opponents |
Jundallah (جندالله, lit. "Soldiers of God") is a terrorist militant group associated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The group was commanded by terrorist Hakimullah Mehsud, the Emir of TTP, until his death on 1 November 2013. Ahmed Marwat is the spokesman of the group. On 17 November 2014, a group spokesman told Reuters that it had vowed allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, after a meeting with a three-man delegation from the group. In January 2017 Government of Pakistan has imposed, interalia, ban on Junddullah and other splinter groups that claim responsibility of terror attacks.
The group is wanted in connection to a wide range of terrorist attacks, most famously the June 10, 2004 attempted assassination attempt on the convoy of Ahsan Saleem Hyat, the then Karachi Corps Commander.
In February 2012, 18 Shia Muslims travelling from Rawalpindi, Punjab to Gilgit, Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan on a bus were stopped in Kohistan and massacred based on their religious affiliation by individuals dressed in Military uniforms. After the incident, Ahmad Marwat claiming to be the commander of the banned terrorist group Jundallah claimed responsibility for the act by contacting the media. After the shooting the gunmen resorted to aerial firing and moved to the nearby hilly areas.
Jundallah claimed responsibility for the killing of tourists and their Pakistani guide in Gilgit–Baltistan. The tourists were mountain-climbers who had hoped to climb Nanga Parbat. The dead included five Ukrainians, three Chinese, and their guide.
On 22 September 2013, a twin suicide bomb attack took place at All Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, in which 127 people were killed and over 250 injured. It was the deadliest attack on the Christian minority in the history of Pakistan.