Jihad as a Family Tradition: The Continuing Legacy of Khalid Shaikh Mohammad

Jihad as a Family Tradition: The Continuing Legacy of Khalid Shaikh Mohammad

Few terrorists have been able to achieve the level of success in perpetrating acts of terrorism as achieved by Khalid Shaikh Mohammad (KSM), the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. KSM, however, was not the only one in his family to plan and execute acts of terrorism. Members of the KSM family have established themselves in the world of terrorism in a way few others could. Hitherto, six members of the KSM family have been found involved in plotting and perpetrating massive acts of terrorism in five countries. Apparently terrorism has become a norm in KSM’s family, with each member establishing himself in his own right. Therefore, it is important to study and analyze the peculiar case of the KSM family’s involvement in terrorism and draw conclusions about possible future threats.

Origins and Background

There are certain myths about KSM that are relevant to understanding both him and his family:

• KSM is of Arab/Palestinian descent;
• KSM held Kuwaiti nationality;
• KSM did not have Islamist background before joining al-Qaeda;
• He is an ethnic Pashtun.

In fact, none of these characterizations of KSM and his family are true. First, KSM is not Arab, as his family hailed from Pakistan and migrated to Kuwait in early 1950s. [1] There, his father, an Islamist cleric, served as imam of a mosque located in a majority Palestinian neighborhood. The family never received Kuwaiti citizenship, though KSM used several forged passports from a variety of countries during his jihadist career. While growing up in a religious environment, KSM’s radicalization and Islamist career began with the Kuwaiti branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in early 1970s. And although KSM lived in Pashtun-majority Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, he is not an ethnic Pashtun. In fact, KSM is a Baluch, hailing from Turbat, Baluchistan. KSM remained a Pakistani national, and he was arrested in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 2003. [2]

Jihad as Family Tradition

A tradition of anti-Americanism and waging jihad runs in the KSM family, starting with his cleric father, Sheikh Mohammed Ali Doustin Baluchi, who was an ardent adherent of the ultraorthodox Deobandi sect of Islam.

Abdul Basit Abdul Karim (a.k.a. Ramzi Yousaf) — KSM’s nephew and the most infamous of his relatives — followed in KSM’s footsteps in joining the war in Afghanistan against the Soviet forces in the late 1980s. Ramzi was only few years younger than KSM, and they grew up together in Kuwait. Both studied engineering abroad — KSM in North Carolina, and Ramzi in the United Kingdom. Ramzi took the lead in perpetrating acts of terrorism when he bombed World Trade Center in 1993 after traveling to the United States on a forged Iraqi passport. During his Afghanistan years, Ramzi also remained an explosives trainer at the Derunta terrorist training camp near Jalalabad in early 1990s. [3]

The second most notorious KSM nephew is Ammar al-Baluchi (a.k.a. Ali Abdul Aziz Ali), a Guantanamo detainee. Al-Baluchi acted as al-Qaeda’s primary procurer of explosives and chemicals and played a key role in transferring funds to the 9/11 hijackers. Al-Baluchi was arrested along with another high-value al-Qaeda target, Walid bin Attash, from Karachi, in 2002. [4] Al-Baluchi was charged with plotting the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi and attempting to procure and develop chemical and biological weapons in collusion with his wife, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. (Express Tribune, August 8, 2010).

Dr. Siddiqui belonged to a highly religious family based in Karachi. Her whole family was associated with the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami. [5] Siddiqui studied at prestigious universities: MIT, University of Houston and Brandeis University, from where she received her doctorate in neuroscience (Dawn, February 17, 2016). Siddiqui was suspected of involvement in the 9/11 attacks because, during interrogation, KSM named her as a courier and financier. She married her second husband, Ammar al-Baluchi, after divorcing her first one on returning to Pakistan immediately after the 9/11 attacks (IB Times, August 22, 2014).

The notorious doctor (a.k.a. the Lady al-Qaeda) had remained closely involved with her husband al-Baluchi in procuring materials required for developing chemical and biological weapons (CBW) on the black-market in order to maximize the casualty level of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. She was arrested by U.S. forces with cooperation from Pakistan and transferred to Afghanistan. Termed a terrorist “Mata Hari” by her interrogators in the United States (Dawn, August 15, 2008), Siddqui was later sentenced to 86 years in prison after a trial in a New York circuit court.

Next Generation of the KSM Legacy

Ramzi and KSM have left a family legacy that is still being zealously followed by their family members. While some of KSM’s family members involved in terrorism have been arrested, others are still at large.

Dawood Badini is a cousin of KSM who is still at large. Badini took over as Emir of the Baluchistan chapter of the sectarian (anti-Shia) Islamist terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) after the death of Emir Usman Saifullah Kurd in an encounter with police in 2015. Badini earlier served as Niab Emir of LeJ Baluchistan and remained involved in terrorist strikes targeting the Hazara-Shia community of Baluchistan province. Under Badini, LeJ has continued its attacks on Shia-Hazara community of Quetta. Badini’s militants killed five people in an attack on two teashops in June 2015 (Newsweek Pakistan, June 8, 2015). In another terrorist strike, three members of Hazara-Shia community were killed on July 2015, and another two killed in a targeted killing in downtown Quetta in November 2015 (The Nation, July 6, 2015; Express Tribune, November 7, 2015). According to unconfirmed reports, Badini has developed a working relationship with ISIS-Khurasan based in Baluchistan. He is still at large, although the Pakistani government has placed a large bounty on his head (see Terrorism Monitor, July 22, 2016).

Another KSM nephew, and elder brother of Ramzi Yousaf, is known by his nom de guerre Haji Sahab. Not much is known about the activities of this elusive KSM relative who is based in the gang-war infested Lyari neighborhood of Karachi, and in parts of Baluchistan province. What is known is that he works with Jalal Shah, an al-Qaeda operative in Karachi, and provides material and human resources to al-Qaeda-linked networks for perpetrating acts of terrorism. After the arrest of the Tahir Minhas cell, an ISIS-inspired former al-Qaeda cell that was active in Karachi and Hyderabad, it became known that Haji Sahab was bankrolling the cell (Dawn, July 2, 2015). The Tahir Minhas cell was involved in attacking NATO trucks and the killing of Shias and members of overtly secular and anti-Islamist parties, like the Mutahida Quami Movement (MQM) in Karachi.

Idris al-Baluchi, yet another KSM nephew, was killed by security forces in an operation in Karachi in August 2015 (Long War Journal, August 28, 2015).

Conclusion

Members of the KSM family remain an active security threat. Three of the family members — KSM, Siddiqui and al-Baluchi — were involved in the planning and execution of the 9/11 attacks. This showcases their resolve in perpetrating the biggest ever terrorist attack.  Further demonstrating their resolve, there were other unsuccessful attacks, like Operation Bijonka, planned by KSM and his family in an effort to further their radical views.

Though the rest of the family members, with the exception of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, could establish themselves outside Pakistan, their terrorist activities — often reliant on brutal tactics — pose a serious threat to regional security. The KSM family is a dangerous example and it is possible that more families radicalized in this fashion could produce educated and treacherously deceptive terrorists. For countries like Pakistan, counter-radicalization programs are urgently needed. Without disrupting the supply line of recruitment and exhausting the potential number of terrorists, no counter terrorism policy measure can work effectively.

 

 

NOTES:

[1] Information sourced in documents made available in the “Gitmo Files” on WikiLeaks.

[2] Author’s discussions with Azaz Syed, Mohammad Amir Rana of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, and senior journalist Mujahid Hussain.

[3] Author’s discussions with Azaz Syed, Mohammad Amir Rana of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, and senior journalist Mujahid Hussain.

[4]Jamaat-e-Islami is one of the mainstream Islamist political parties in Pakistan. Jamaat was founded by Abul ala Maududi, a self-taught scholar in 1941. Jamaat has been accused of aligning with al-Qaeda and not condemning Islamist terrorism in Pakistan. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the mastermind of 9/11 attacks, was arrested in the house of a leader of Jamaat, Abdul Qudoos. Besides the arrest of KSM, scores of other high value al-Qaeda targets have been arrested in the houses of Jamaat leaders and workers in Pakistan.

[5] Information sourced in documents made available in the “Gitmo Files” on WikiLeaks.