Group

Description and activities

Strenght, Location and External Aid

Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)

The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a small Islamic extremist group based in China’s western Xinjiang Province, is one of the most militant of the ethnic Uighur separatist groups pursuing an independent “Eastern Turkistan,” which would include Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Xinjiang. ETIM and other overlapping militant Uighur groups are linked to the international mujahidin movement— and to a limited degree al-Qaida—beginning with the participation of ethnic Uighur mujahidin in the Soviet/Afghan war.

US and Chinese Government information suggests ETIM was responsible for terrorist acts inside and outside China. Most recently, in May 2002, two ETIM members were deported to China from Kyrgyzstan for plotting to attack the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan as well as other US interests abroad.

Unknown. Only a small minority of ethnic Uighurs supports the Xinjiang independence movement or the formation of an East Turkistan.

Xinjiang Province and neighboring countries in the region.

ETIM is suspected of having received training and financial assistance from al-Qaida.

First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO

Formed in 1975 as the armed wing of the illegal Communist Party of Spain during the Franco era. Advocates the overthrow of the Spanish Government and its replacement with a Marxist-Leninist regime. GRAPO is vehemently anti-US, seeks the removal of all US military forces from Spanish territory, and has conducted and attempted several attacks against US targets since 1977. The group issued a communique following the 11 September attacks in the United States, expressing its satisfaction that “symbols of imperialist power” were decimated and affirming that “the war” has only just begun.

GRAPO did not mount a successful terrorist attack in 2002. GRAPO has killed more than 90 persons and injured more than 200. The group’s operations traditionally have been designed to cause material damage and gain publicity rather than inflict casualties, but the terrorists have conducted lethal bombings and close-range assassinations. In May 2000, the group killed two security guards during a botched armed robbery attempt of an armored truck carrying an estimated $2 million, and in November 2000, members assassinated a Spanish policeman in a possible reprisal for the arrest that month of several GRAPO leaders in France. The group also has bombed business and official sites, employment agencies, and the Madrid headquarters of the ruling Popular Party.

Fewer than two-dozen activists remaining. Police have made periodic large-scale arrests of GRAPO members, crippling the organization and forcing it into lengthy rebuilding periods. In 2002, Spanish and French authorities arrested 22 suspected members, including some of the group’s reconstituted leadership.

Spain.

None.

Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI)

HUJI, a Sunni extremist group that follows the Deobandi tradition of Islam, was founded in 1980 in Afghanistan to fight in the jihad against the Soviets. It also is affiliated with the Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam Fazlur Rehman faction (JUI-F) and the Deobandi school of Sunni Islam. The group, led by chief commander Amin Rabbani, is made up primarily of Pakistanis and foreign Islamists who are fighting for the liberation of Kashmir and its accession to Pakistan.

Has conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Kashmir in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995, and the other four reportedly were killed in December of the same year.

Exact numbers are unknown, but there may be several hundred members in Kashmir.

Pakistan and Kashmir. Trained members in Afghanistan until fall of 2001.

Specific sources of external aid are unknown.

Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami/Bangladesh

The mission of HUJI-B, led by Shauqat Osman, is to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. HUJI-B has connections to the Pakistani militant groups Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) and Harak ul-Mujahidin (HUM), who advocate similar objectives in Pakistan and Kashmir.

HUJI-B was accused of stabbing a senior Bangladeshi journalist in November 2000 for making a documentary on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. HUJI-B was suspected in the July 2000 assassination attempt of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

HUJI-B has an estimated cadre strength of more than several thousand members.

Operates and trains members in Bangladesh, where it maintains at least six camps.

Funding of the HUJI-B comes primarily from madrassas in Bangladesh. The group also has ties to militants in Pakistan that may provide another funding source.

Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)

Gulbuddin Hikmatyar founded Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) as a faction of the Hizb-I Islami party in 1977, and it was one of the major mujahedin groups in the war against the Soviets. HIG has long-established ties with Bin Ladin. In the early 1990s, Hikmatyar ran several terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and was a pioneer in sending mercenary fighters to other Islamic conflicts. Hikmatyar offered to shelter Bin Ladin after the latter fled Sudan in 1996.

HIG has staged small attacks in its attempt to force US troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, overthrow the Afghan Transitional Administration (ATA), and establish a fundamentalist state.

HIG possibly could have hundreds of veteran fighters to call on.

Eastern Afghanistan (particularly Konar and Nurestan Provinces) and adjacent areas of Pakistan's tribal areas.

Unknown.

Hizb ul-Mujahidin (HM)

Hizb ul-Mujahidin, the largest Kashmiri militant group, was founded in 1989 and officially supports the liberation of Kashmir and its accession to Pakistan, although some cadres are proindependence. The group is the militant wing of Pakistan’s largest Islamic political party, the Jamaat-i-Islami. It currently is focused on Indian security forces and politicians in Kashmir and has conducted operations jointly with other Kashmiri militants. It reportedly operated in Afghanistan through the mid-1990s and trained alongside the Afghan Hizb-I-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) in Afghanistan until the Taliban takeover. The group, led by Syed Salahuddin, is made up primarily of ethnic Kashmiris. Currently, there are visible splits between Pakistan-based commanders and several commanders in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Has conducted a number of operations against Indian military targets in Kashmir. The group also occasionally strikes at civilian targets in Kashmir but has not engaged in terrorist acts elsewhere.

Exact numbers are unknown, but there may be several hundred members in Indian-controlled Kashmir and Pakistan.

Indian-controlled Kashmir and Pakistan. Trained members in Afghanistan until the Taliban takeover.

Specific sources of external aid are unknown.

Irish Republican Army (IRA)

Dissension within the IRA over support for the Northern Ireland peace process resulted in the formation of two more radical splinter groups: Continuity IRA, in 1995 and the Real IRA in 1997. Until its July 1997 cease-fire, the Provisional IRA had sought to remove British forces from Northern Ireland and unify Ireland by force. In July 2002, the IRA reiterated its commitment to the peace process and apologized to the families of what it called “non-combatants” who had been killed or injured by the IRA. The IRA is organized into small, tightly knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council.

IRA traditional activities have included bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. Before the 1997 cease-fire, bombing campaigns had been conducted on various targets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain and included senior British Government officials, civilians, police, and British military targets. In April 2002, the IRA conducted a second act of arms decommissioning that the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) called “varied” and “substantial.” In late October, however, the IRA suspended contact with the IICD. The IRA retains the ability to conduct paramilitary operations. The IRA’s extensive criminal activities reportedly provide the organizations with millions of dollars each year.

Several hundred members, plus several thousand sympathizers—despite the defection of some members to RIRA and CIRA.

Northern Ireland, Irish Republic, Great Britain, and Europe.

Has in the past received aid from a variety of groups and countries and considerable training and arms from Libya and the PLO. Is suspected of receiving funds, arms, and other terrorist-related materiel from sympathizers in the United States. Similarities in operations suggest links to ETA and the FARC. In August 2002, three suspected IRA members were arrested in Colombia on charges of assisting the FARC to improve its explosives capabilities.

Islamic Army of Aden (IAA)

The Islamic Army of Aden (IAA) emerged publicly in mid-1998 when the group released a series of communiques that expressed support for Usama Bin Ladin and appealed for the overthrow of the Yemeni Government and operations against US and other Western interests in Yemen. IAA’s assets were frozen under E.O. 13224 in September 2001, and it was designated for sanctions under UNSCR 1333 in the same month.

Engages in bombings and kidnappings to promote its goals. Kidnapped 16 British, US, and Australian tourists in late December 1998 near Mudiyah in southern Yemen. Since the capture and trial of the Mudiyah kidnappers and the execution in October 1999 of the group’s leader, Zein al-Abidine al-Mihdar (a.k.a. Abu Hassan), individuals associated with the IAA have remained involved in terrorist activities on a number of occasions. In 2001, the Yemeni Government convicted an IAA member and three associates for their role in the bombing in October 2000 of the British Embassy in Sanaa. The current status of the IAA is unknown. Despite the appearance of several press statements attributed to the IAA and released through intermediaries and the Internet in 2002, Yemeni officials claim that the group is operationally defunct.

Not known.

Operates in the southern governorates of Yemen—primarily Aden and Abyan.

Not known.

Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB)

One of three terrorist groups affiliated with Chechen guerrillas that furnished personnel to carry out the seizure of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow on 23 October 2002. The suicide attackers took more than 800 hostages, whom they threatened to kill if the Russian Government did not meet their demands, including the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya. Chechen extremist leader Shamil Basayev—who claimed responsibility for ordering the seizure—established the IIPB in 1998, which he led with Saudi-born mujahidin leader Ibn al-Khattab until the latter’s death in March 2002. Arab mujahidin leader Abu al-Walid since has taken over Khattab’s leadership role in the IIPB, which consists of Chechens, Arabs, and other foreign fighters.

Primarily guerrilla operations against Russian forces.

Up to 400 fighters, including as many as 150 Arabs and other foreign fighters.

Primarily in Chechnya and adjacent areas of the north Caucasus, but major logistic activities also occur in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.

The IIPB and its Arab leaders appear to be a primary conduit for Islamic funding for the Chechen guerrillas, in part through links to al-Qaida–related financiers on the Arabian Peninsula.