ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to impose a ban on Jundullah and all the terrorist groups that claim responsibility for terror attacks.

Sources said that the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), on the directives of the Interior Ministry, has decided to impose a ban on Jundullah and all splinter groups of terrorists.

The decision for slapping the ban was made after the group claimed responsibility for the Wagah Border and Peshawar Church attacks. Provinces have been directed to provide details about Jundullah. The NECTA has sent a letter to authorities in all four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, besides the Islamabad Chief Commissioner. </s> Govt to ban Jundullah, other terrorist groups

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to impose a ban on Jundullah and all the terrorist groups that claim responsibility for terror attacks.

Sources said that the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), under the directives of the Interior Ministry, has decided to impose a ban on Jundullah and the splinter groups that separate them from proscribed outfits and the groups that claim responsibility of terror attacks.

The decision for slapping the ban has been taken after the responsibility for the Wagah border and Peshawar Church attack was claimed.

The provinces have been directed to provide details about Jundullah. Nacta has sent a letter to all the four provinces, AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and chief commissioner Islamabad in this regard. </s> ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to impose a ban on Jundullah and all the terrorist groups that claim responsibility for terror attacks.

Sources said that the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), under the directives of the Interior Ministry, has decided to impose a ban on Jundullah and the splinter groups that separate them from proscribed outfits and the groups that claim responsibility of terror attacks.

The decision for slapping the ban has been taken after the responsibility for the Wagah border and Peshawar Church attack was claimed.

The provinces have been directed to provide details about Jundullah. Nacta has sent a letter to all the four provinces, AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and chief commissioner Islamabad in this regard.

Govt to ban Jundullah, other terrorist groups was posted in Top Story of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on January 08, 2017 and was last updated on January 08, 2017. This news story is related to Print/177663-Govt-to-ban-Jundullah-other-terrorist-groups/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Govt to ban Jundullah, other terrorist groups" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/177663-Govt-to-ban-Jundullah-other-terrorist-groups. </s> Pakistan has amended its anti-terrorism law that authorizes the government to blacklist charities linked to Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed.

Two charities run by Saeed — Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) — have been outlawed by the U.N. Security Council for being "terrorist fronts" for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group Saeed founded 30 years ago that has been blamed for the 2008 deadly attacks in India's financial capital of Mumbai.

Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain last week quietly approved the amendments to the law, which the government only made public Monday.

Until now, the organizations sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council were not automatically listed as terrorist entities in Pakistan, enabling JuD and FIF to conduct their charity-related activities around the country and collect donations.

Islamabad's move comes a week before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on terror financing holds a crucial meeting in Paris to assess Pakistan's efforts to choke funding sources to terrorist groups, including those linked to Saeed.

Washington has offered a $10 million reward for bringing Saeed to justice and warned Islamabad of repercussions in November after a Pakistani court freed the cleric from months of house arrest, citing a lack of evidence linking him to the Mumbai attacks.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the violence and alleges his house arrest was the outcome of U.S. pressure on Pakistan.

The amended anti-terrorism law that was made public would also enable authorities to list two other charities in the country — Al-Akhtar Trust and Al-Rashid Trust — that the U.N. has designated terrorist groups because of their links to al-Qaida.

India has long demanded Pakistan try and punish Saeed for planning the 2008 bloodshed. Islamabad maintains New Delhi has not provided enough evidence to arrest and successfully prosecute the cleric.

Indian authorities allege organizations linked to Saeed are fueling a separatist insurgency in the India-rule portion of the divided Kashmir region.

Bilateral tensions have been running high between the two nuclear-armed rival nations.

Following the latest deadly militant attack against an army base in the disputed region over the weekend, Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman warned Monday that Pakistan "will have to pay for the misadventure."

Islamabad rejected India's allegations of Pakistani involvement in the attack. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry urged New Delhi to "refrain from any misadventure" across the de facto Kashmir border. </s> ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has officially banned two charities linked to Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, an official said on Wednesday, in a move against the U.N.-designated "terrorist" that the United States says was behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.



The move comes days before a key meeting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering watchdog, that will consider a US-sponsored motion to place Pakistan on a list of countries failing to prevent terrorism financing.



Punjab Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the Ministry of Interior issued a notification against Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) this week.



"We have received the interior ministry directions, and according to that, Hafiz Saeed and his charities, like JuD and FIF, have been banned to operate in Pakistan," Sanaullah told Reuters.



"As per the instructions, we have already started taking over all the facilities, offices, schools, dispensaries and seminaries which belong to the JuD and FIF." </s> Pakistan has officially banned two charities linked to Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, an official said on Wednesday, in a move against the U.N.-designated "terrorist" that the United States says was behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has banned two charities linked to Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, an official said on Wednesday, in a move against the U.N.-designated "terrorist" who the United States says was behind an attack on Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people.

Authorities had begun seizing control of offices and financial assets of the charities, another official said.

The action comes days before a meeting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering watchdog, which will consider a U.S.-sponsored motion to place Pakistan on a list of countries failing to prevent terrorism financing.

The operations in Pakistan of Saeed's extensive network - which includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services - has been a particular concern of the United States.

Punjab province's law minister, Rana Sanaullah, said the central Ministry of Interior had issued a notification against the two charities, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), this week.

"We have received the interior ministry directions, and according to that, Hafiz Saeed and his charities, like JuD and FIF, have been banned to operate in Pakistan," Sanaullah told Reuters.

The United States has labelled JuD and FIF "terrorist fronts" for Lashkar-e-Taiba ("Army of the Pure" or LeT), a group Saeed founded in 1987 that the United States and India blame for the bloody attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the attacks. A Pakistani court freed him from house arrest last year after ruling there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

Pakistan drew up plans late last year to take over Saeed's charities in a secret order first reported by Reuters.

In the city of Rawalpindi, in Punjab province, district officers had begun taking over the charities' offices, a city official said.

"We've taken over all the JuD and FIF assets. We've completed the takeover," Rawalpindi commissioner Nadeem Aslam told Reuters.

Aslam said he did not have an exact number of offices and seminaries involved in the asset seizure but data was being compiled in all four districts of Rawalpindi division and he expected full details of the assets.

A spokesmen for JuD declined to make an immediate comment but said a statement would be issued. Officials at FIF could not be reached for comment, nor could Hafiz Saeed himself, who rarely speaks to the media.

Pakistan has banned the LeT but its charity wings, the JUD and FIF have been operating.

The United States has offered US$10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who heads JuD, which Washington says is a front for the LeT.

Pakistani officials involved in the seizures of assets said failure to act against the charities could lead to Pakistan's inclusion on the FATF watchlist.

That would make it harder for foreigners to do business in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation.

Pakistan's de facto finance minister, Miftah Ismail, told Reuters the FATF would consider a motion to place Pakistan on the list but the government was "hopeful" it could make its case to avoid it.

Pakistan was on the FATF watchlist from 2012 to 2015. </s> No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing in Payee Khan, a village in Mohmand Agency that is part of the lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan.

"The suicide bomber was in a crowded mosque, he shouted 'Allahu akbar' (God is greatest) and then there was a huge blast," Naveed Akbar, deputy administrator of Mohmand Agency, told Reuters.

Akbar added that some fatalities appear to have been caused when part of the mosque caved in from the force of the blast.

"A portion of the mosque and verandah collapsed in the blast and fell on worshippers. We are still retrieving bodies and the injured from the rubble of the mosque," he said.

Local tribal elder Haji Subhanullah Mohmand said the attack may have been carried out by Islamist militants seeking revenge after local tribesmen gathered a volunteer force and killed one and captured another insurgent.

"It seems to have enraged the militants and they got their revenge by carrying out a suicide attack in a mosque today," Mohmand said.

Pakistan's frontier regions, which are deeply conservative and hard to access due to rough terrain, have long been the sanctuary of fighters from al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups.

In 2014 the army launched a major operation in other parts of FATA including North and South Waziristan against insurgents who routinely attacked government officials and civilians.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the bombing and said the "attacks by terrorists cannot shatter the government's resolve to eliminate terrorism from the country."

Security in Pakistan has improved in recent years - the military says "terrorist incidents" dropped from 128 in 2013 to 74 last year - but Islamist extremists continue to stage major attacks.

A bombing of lawyers in the city of Quetta killed 74 people last month, an attack claimed by both the Islamic State and Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban.

Jamaat-ur-Ahrar also claimed the Easter Sunday bombing in a park in the eastern city of Lahore that killed 72 people, many of them children.

Most of the myriad militant groups that stage attacks inside Pakistan seek to overthrow the government to establish an Islamic theocracy and impose a stricter interpretation of the religion than is practiced in much of the country.

Other armed groups based in the country target neighboring Afghanistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir. </s> ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s military says that an early morning suicide attack on one of its regional bases near the Afghan border left four assailants and two soldiers dead.

The heavily armed group of bombers tried to enter the Ghalani camp in the Mohmand tribal district and attack a packed mosque in a residential area, according to an official statement.

It said that security forces engaged them and contained them in the outer courtyard of the mosque, killing two attackers while the other two blew themselves up during an intense gunbattle.

The military confirmed the encounter left two of its personnel dead and another 14 wounded.

An extremist group fighting alongside the anti-state Pakistani Taliban claimed it was behind the assault.

The so-called Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction claimed in a statement sent to reporters that the Pakistan military camp was targeted because it serves as a detention and torture center for captured Taliban fighters and their relatives.

The group has staged multiple attacks in Pakistan, targeting civilians, religious minorities and security forces.

Pakistani authorities allege the group is sheltering and operating out of border areas in Afghanistan with the help of the neighboring country’s intelligence agency.

Kabul denies the charges.

The United States earlier this year added Jamaat-ul-Ahrar to its list of global terrorist organizations after it claimed responsibility for a attack on the U.S. consulate in Peshawar.

The violence killed two Pakistani employees of the diplomatic facility. </s> Karachi: At least two policemen were killed in a roadside blast in the troubled Balochistan province while 13 people were injured in two separate suicide bombings during Eid prayers on Tuesday targeting minority Shias in Pakistan's relatively peaceful southern Sindh province.

Two police officials were killed and 10 other injured in a blast near a police training centre on Quetta's Sariab road when militants targeted a police patrol vehicle in the area, police said.

Also, four suicide attackers infiltrated Shikarpur district's Khanpur tehsil, 470 kilometres north of Karachi, police said.

Two of the attackers targeted an Eid prayer ground where one assailant blew himself up, injuring 10 people, two of whom were policemen. The other attacker managed to flee, they said.

Two other suicide bombers targeted a Shia mosque but they were stopped at the entrance by policemen, which led to one of them blowing himself up while the other was arrested. Three policemen were injured in the attack, one of whom was critical. Last year, at least 61 people were killed in a suicide attack on a mosque in the district.

"Alert" policemen at the venues prevented huge casualties, police officer Beherdin Kehrio told reporters. "If the policemen had not prevented these suicide bombers from entering the prayer venues there would have been largescale casualties because of the large gathering because of Eid prayers," he said.

He said the attackers at the Shia mosque were stopped by policemen as they looked suspicious and when confronted one of them detonated himself. "The other attacker was brought down and arrested," he added.

Those injured in the blast have been admitted to hospitals in Shikarpur for treatment. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan has been frequently hit by sectarian violence in recent years, most of them perpetrated by hardline Sunni Muslim groups against minority Shia Muslims. However, Sindh is considered a relatively peaceful of Pakistan's four provinces and is highly influenced by Sufi doctrines and principles.
Pakistan has decided to impose official prohibition on Jundallah and splinter groups that claim responsibility for terror attacks.