Pakistan Sanctions 88 new terrorists
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Pakistan and Terrorism

Terrorism in Pakistan poses a significant threat to the people of Pakistan as well as for the neighbouring countries who are getting affected. The wave of terrorism claimed to have started in 2000 and peaked during 2009. Since then it has drastically declined as result of military operations conducted by the Pakistan Army. According to South Asian Terrorism Portal Index (SATP), terrorism in Pakistan has declined by 89% in 2017 since 2009. Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (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. Pakistan has always been accused by neighbouring countries India, Afghanistan, Iran and other nations, including the US, UK, France, of involvement in terrorist activities in the region and beyond. Pakistan gives shelter to terrorist always grabs news headlines. In an interview to ANI, Ambassador Tirumurti said terror groups such as Jamat-ud Dawah, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen are continuing their operations from Pakistan.  In an attempt to be dropped from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, Pakistan has banned 88 new terrorists, in compliance with the new list issued by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The banned terrorists include Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, local media reports said on Saturday.  The Pakistan government issued two notifications on August 18 announcing sanctions on key leaders of terror 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 terrorist 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 terror 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 terrorists have been barred from transferring money through financial institutions, purchasing arms and travelling abroad.

Dawood Ibrahim arrested in Pakistan

A long wait came to an end when Dawood Ibrahim was arrested. In order to avoid FATF blacklist in 2020, Pakistan sanctions 88 banned terrorist outfits. It is perhaps the first time that lists Dawood Ibrahim's addresses in Pakistan  after continuous denials of India's allegation of harbouring the 1993 bomb blasts accused. Pakistan desperately needs to get out of FATF so that it may not meet significant obligations further and reform the economy of Pakistan.  In the Pakistan notification, Dawood details are provided under serial number QDi. 135 – as in the UNSC list of sanctions – and gives out all his details including his passport numbers and address in Clifton, Karachi. The entry is the same as the UNSC list, which has his aliases, residential address in Karachi, Pakistan and his passport details. He has 9 Indian passports and 5 Pakistan passports. In all 5 Pakistani passports, the entry says "misuse"- indicating that Pakistan has not provided them through official means. Pakistan has also included the names of fugitive gangster  Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and a few more Taliban leaders in its own list of terrorists, and imposed an assets freeze, arms embargo, and travel ban on them. Seeking to escape from getting blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, Pakistan on Friday imposed tough financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including Ibrahim, 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Days after including India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim on its new sanctions list, Pakistan the next day tried to wriggle out of its admission on his presence in the country by claiming that its notifications about the 88 banned terror groups and their leaders were based on the details provided by the UN. The decision was made in an attempt to show Pakistan’s commitment towards the Financial Action Task Force, which has retained the country on its "grey list" and gave it time in February to achieve full compliance with its 27-point action plan to avoid being put into the “black list”. “As of August 18, 2020, the 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee has approved the entries specified below to its list of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2368 (2018) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,” a statutory Regulatory Order by the Pakistani foreign ministry. Repeatedly India has asked the Government of Pakistan to hand over Ibrahim to India so that he can be prosecuted for the crimes committed by him but Pakistan has been denying for years that it was sheltering him. Though India provided time-to-time evidence about his presence in Pakistan.

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