SKETCH OF A SOUTH ASIA-BASED TERRORIST TRAINING AND LOGISTIC NETWORK

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05373678
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: January 10, 2019
• Case Number: F-2017-00579
• Publication Date: December 1, 1995

Approved for Release: 2018/09/27 C05373678
4oluk Pt -rt.
Sketch of a South Asia-Based
Terrorist Training and
Logistic Network
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain key training and
logistic centers for Sunni Islamic militants involved
in terrorist incidents worldwide. Various Sunni
Islamic extremist groups use well-established sys-
tems of interrelated�and sometimes overlap-
ping--safehouses and training facilities in these
two countries.
highlights the worldwide reach
of Sunni Islamic extremist groups and their grow-
ing ability to target US interests as well as their
own governments
How the Network Operates
the extensive use by Islamic militants of safehouses
and training facilities in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In
some cases, the individuals concerned depart Afghan-
istan only shortly before their involvement in a terror-
ist incident:
Is
different groups groups use discrete facilities in both
countries.
Each of these networks overlaps
the others at various 1.oints
min )
(b)(1)
(blill
(ID,(b),(3)
th\23) I
Peshawar NGO at Center of the Network (b)(1))/(3)
One Peshawar-based nongovernmental organization(b)(3)1
(NG0)�the Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK), or Service. itu5(1 )
Organization�appears to play a key role in facilitat-
ing the training and travel of Islamic extremists (b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(3
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
01111)
((b)(1)
(b)(3)
World Trade Center and Manila-Based Plots. Many
of the individuals convicted of bombing the World
Trade Center in New York in 1993 were recruited
through the al-Kifah center in Brooklyn�a branch of
the MAK�according to press reports. The alleged
mastermind of the plot, Ramzi Yousef, left Peshawar
for New York six months before the bombing.
Another member of the group, Mahmud Abuhalima,
was
2700001
eaa'Seeret�
DI TR 95-012
December 1995
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(b)(1)
(b)(3)
16
A
� �
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Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK) (u)
Abdullah Aram,
founded the MAK as the Services Office for Afghani-
stan in 1985 to support the recruitment and movement
of volunteers to fight in the war in Afghanistan.
he was killed by a car
bomb in Peshawar in 1989. His followers have contin-
ued to pursue his stated goal of bringing about
Islamic rovernment worldwide throurh violence
During the Afghan-Soviet wan MAK established sev-
eral offices in Pakistan and also in New York
Since 1992, the MAK has opened additional offices
in Peshawar�in 1988.
17
Logo for the AI-Kifah Center in
Brooklyn, New York (U)
Unclassified
(b)(1)
(b) 3)
(b)(1)
(b)(1)
ig3p
(b)(1)
(b)(3
(b)(3)
(b)(1)3)
(b)(3)
(N(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)3)
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� The MAX may be sponsoring one of the mujahidin
units in Bosnia
a recent issue of MAK's magazine,
Al-Jihad, told readers to send $100 to the Emirate's
Bank in Peshawar to sponsor a mujahidin in Bosnia.
� In another article in its magazine, MAK stated that it
had tried to open a school in Muzzafrabad, Pakistan,
to attract Arab volunteers for the struggle in
Kashmir.
18
(b)(1)
(b)(3
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
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Implications
Information we have about this Afghanistan-Pakistan-
centered network highlights the growing capabilities
and worldwide reach of Sunni Islamic extremist
groups. The groups involved in this network can target
opponents virtually anywhere in the world. In addi-
tion, experts from various organizations in the net-
work can be brought together to attack targets of
mutual interest on an ad hoc basis�increasing the
danger to Western interests. For example, the bombing
of the World Trade Center and the Manila-based plots
against US interests involved individuals from several
countries�including Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Saudi
Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Philippines�and
from different Islamic extremist groups
19
This greater degree of cooperation between Islamic (b)(3)
militant groups enhances their abilities against their
home governments and their resiliency in the face of
crackdowns by improving their access to money,
arms, expertise, and safehavens. A group forced out
of one location can move to any one of a dozen others.
(b)(1)
p(i)
b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
Approved for Release. 2018/09/27 C05373678