Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar’s brother was among 44 members of the banned militant outfits arrested by authorities in Pakistan, amid mounting pressure from the global community on Islamabad to rein in the militant groups operating on its soil.
Mufti Abdur Rauf, brother of Azhar, and Hammad Azhar are 44people arrested during the crackdown, minister of state for Interior, ShehryarKhan Afridi, said at a press conference here.
He said a dossier shared by India with Pakistan last weekalso contained names of Mufti Abdur Rauf and Hammad Azhar.
The crackdown on banned groups came amid tensions with Indiafollowing a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February14 by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group that killed 40 CRPF personnel.
India handed over a dossier to Pakistan to take actionagainst the JeM, as pressure mounted on Islamabad to take action againstindividual and organisation listed by the UN Security Council as “terrorists”.
The minister, however, said the action was not taken due toany pressure. He said the action would be taken against all the proscribedorganisations under the National Action Plan.
He said the crackdown will continue for two weeks andactions against the arrested members will be taken on the basis of evidence.
The minister said that his government’s policy is thatPakistan’s soil will not be allowed for militant activities against any one.
The move came a day after Pakistan on Monday promulgated alaw to streamline the procedure for the implementation of the UN sanctionsagainst individuals and organisations.
Interpreting the order, foreign office spokesperson MohammadFaisal said the order means that the government has taken over the control ofassets and properties of all banned outfits operating in the country.
A dossier submitted by India lacks “concreteevidence” linking Pakistan with the suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPFpersonnel, Islamabad said on Tuesday, as it arrested the brother and son of JeMchief Maulana Masood Azhar and others as part of a crackdown on groupsfollowing intense diplomatic pressure.
The brother, Mufti Abdur Rauf, and Hammad Azhar, a son ofthe now reportedly ailing Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief, were among those whosenames were mentioned in the dossier India handed over to Pakistan last week,Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi said.
But Interior Ministry Secretary Azam Suleman Khan quicklyadded: “It does not mean that action is being taken against only thoseindividuals who are mentioned in the dossier.
“If we have to take over any (organisation’s) assets, wewill do so. Assets can be taken over of organisations already declared asproscribed, under the Anti Terrorism Act, 1997.”
“If we obtain any further evidence or if we have toinvestigate any organisation, the government can take any organisation intocustody at any time,” he said.
Khan, however, claimed that the Indian dossier lackedconcrete evidence against any member to link Pakistan and Pakistanis with theFebruary 14 suicide bombing in Pulwama that led to Indian air strikes on JeM’sbiggest training camp at Balakot across the Line of Control, seriouslystraining bilateral ties.
Action will be taken against people if evidence was foundduring the investigations, he said. “In case we don’t find any evidence againstthem, we will release them.”
Afridi insisted that the action was taken without anyforeign pressure, the Pakistani media reported, but informed sources said thatintense diplomatic pressure including from Pakistan’s close allies had forcedIslamabad to crack the whip.
“In the first phase of our action we have taken 44 peopleinto protective custody. We won’t let anyone use Pakistani soil against anyoneso that no force can intervene in Pakistan’s domestic issues,” Afridi said.
The government also froze bank accounts and assets of theorganisations banned by the UNSC.
The Interior Ministry said that the actions will continue asper the decisions taken by the National Security Committee (NSC).
Secretary Khan said: “This is across the board – wedon’t want to give the impression that we are against one organisation.”
Meanwhile, Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its wingFalah-e-Insaniat Foundation were formally paced in the list of bannedorganisations on Tuesday.
According to Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority(NCTA) list, which was updated on Tuesday, JuD and FIF were among 70organisations proscribed by the Ministry of Interior under the Anti-TerrorismAct 1997.
“This list is updated as of 05th March, 2019 andprepared by NACTA based on the Notifications issued by Ministry ofInterior,” said a note at the bottom of the list.