In an attempt to be dropped from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, Pakistan has banned 88 new militants, in compliance with the new list issued by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The banned militants include Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, local media reports said on Saturday.
Paris-based FATF put Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action by the end of 2019, but the deadline was extended later due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Pakistan government issued two notifications on August 18 announcing sanctions on key leaders of militant outfits such as 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Ibrahim, who heads a vast illegal business, has emerged as India’s most wanted militant after the 1993 Mumbai bombings which killed nearly 200 people.
The notifications ratified a complete ban on all leaders and members of the now defunct Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hiding in the Pak-Afghan border areas. Hafiz Saeed Ahmad of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Mohammad Masood Azhar who leads the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Mullah Fazlullah (alias Mullah Radio), Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Muhammad Yahya Mujahid and Abdul Hakeem Murad who is wanted by Interpol.
Leaders of other militant outfits like Noor Wali Mehsud, Fazal Raheem Shah of the Uzbekistan Liberation Movement, Taliban leaders Jalaluddin Haqqani, Khalil Ahmad Haqqani, Yahya Haqqani and Dawood Ibrahim originally from Maharashtra and his associates, were also on the list.
The notifications order seizure of all movable and immoveable properties of these outfits and individuals, and freezing of their bank accounts. These militants have been barred from transferring money through financial institutions, purchasing arms and travelling abroad.
The notifications said that leadership of the defunct TTP, and other organisations including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Tariq Geedar group of TTP, Harkatul Mujahedin, Al Rasheed Trust, Al Akhtar Trust, Tanzim Jaish-al Mohajireen Ansar, Jamaat-ul Ahrar, Tanzim Khutba Imam Bukhari, Rabita Trust Lahore, Revival of Islamic Heritage Society of Pakistan, Al-Harmain Foundation Islamabad, Harkat Jihad Al Islami, Islami Jihad Group, Uzbekistan Islami Tehrik, Daesh of Iraq, Emirates of Tanzim Qafqaz working against Russia, and Abdul Haq Uyghurs of Islamic Freedom Movement of China have been banned. (HT)
