The Al Umar Mujahideen (AuM) was formed in 1989 by Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar alias Latrum. He is believed to have acted at the behest of Mirwaiz, Maulvi Farooq of Srinagar, who was shot dead, reportedly, by the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) on 21 May 1990.
There appear to be two reasons which led to the formation of AuM. First, Zargar had developed differences with the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) over the release of five militants in exchange for the release of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who was then India’s Home Minister. And second, a need was felt to check the activities of HM and the like, which did not bother to acknowledge the religious authority of the Mirwaiz.
It is also said that Zargar was supported by the former President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, in order to make a point that not only Pakistan-based militants groups but others like the AuM also were disrupting peace in Kashmir.
Under the leadership of Zargar, the outfit was able to build a small cadre in Srinagar. It suffered a setback when Zargar was captured by the security forces on 14 May 1992. It may be mentioned that Zargar was one of the three hardcore terrorists swapped at Kandahar to secure the release of the passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines flight, IC 814.
The AuM stands for liberation of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) through armed struggle and merger of Kashmir with Pakistan. The AUM as a militant Islamist group believes in armed jihad. It claims legitimacy for its jihad quoting the Quran and Sunnah.
The AUM has a centralised command structure so far the operational activities are concerned. The outfit is controlled by a supreme command headed by chairman and chief commander, two deputy chief commanders, military advisors and intelligence chief as its members.
In spite of the stiff opposition from HM and its mentors, Jamaat-e-Islami and JKLF, Zargar was able to raise a cadre of 700 militants. Most of them hail from Srinagar and surrounding areas and are Kashmiri youth who had crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK). Due to infighting, as also the arrest and killing of many of its commanders, the outfit became weak in the last part of the 1990s.
When the outfit was shrinking in terms of cadre strength, Mast Gul along with 150 supporters joined the AuM in July 2000. Mast Gul was earlier associated with HM. His association with the AuM lasted for a short period of time and he returned to Pakistan and organised a number of anti-Indian rallies and demonstrations. At present, the outfit seems to be very weak and it has been almost inactive for a long time.
The AuM’s offices are located in Muzaffarabad and Kotli in PoK but its activities are mainly focused on areas in Srinagar. It has also influence over the Kashmiri refugees in Muzaffarabad.
The AuM has mainly targeted Kashmiri Pundits, businessmen and senior government functionaries, besides security personnel. In 1994, it chief commander and organiser of training, Manzoor Ahmed Ganai, visited Pakistan and met Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) officials During J&K assembly elections in the year 2000, Zargar was given the task by the ISI to carry out attacks on candidates and political parties. On many platforms, the AuM leadership confirmed links with terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). It has been reported that the AuM, along with the LeT, carried out many joint suicide attacks. The AuM is also a member of United Jihad Council (UJC).
There are reports that the AuM has established links with Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and various other terrorist organisations. The AUM has a training centre in Keel sector in PoJK where its cadres are given arms training. Zargar visited Pakistan a couple of times during 1989–90, where he acquired military training.
The AUM is suspected to have been funded by the ISI and PoJK government. It has also been collecting large amount of money through extortion and kidnappings in Kashmir.
With the killing of many of its commanders and the arrest of chief operation commander, Farroq Ahmed Sofi alias Javid Junaid, the AUM has become weak. There is hardly any report on its militant activities in recent years. Since the outfit is weak, there is a possibility that the cadres of AuM will join other militant groups.