ISLAMABAD: Pending a formal announcement, the government of Pakistan is reported to have decided to ban the Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the Afghan-based Haqqani Network and 10 more organisations in a move described by security analysts as a paradigm shift in the countrys security policy, following the Peshawar school massacre last month.
The Express Tribune reports that the move came a day after the US declared the fugitive chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Mullah Fazlullah as a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ following Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Pakistan this week. Mullah Fazlullah had claimed responsibility for the December 16 bloody massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar.
Quoting senior officials, the daily says the landmark decision would be stated formally in coming days.
Pakistans Former interior secretary Tasneem Noorani described the development as a significant move towards the execution of the National Action Plan against terrorism which envisages establishment of military courts to expedite trials of terror suspects.
This move shows that the government is serious to dismantle terror groups in the country, he said. The ban on Haqqani Network means distinction of good and bad Taliban no longer exists in Pakistan, he told The Express Tribune.
The Haqqani Network was designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States in September 2012. Subsequently, the UN Security Councils Taliban sanctions committee also added the group to a UN blacklist.
Press Trust of India reports that the Haqqani network, founded by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, has been blamed for some of the most spectacular attacks on US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan. It is also accused of engineering the Indian embassy bombing in Kabul in 2008 that left 58 people dead, a 2011 attack on the US embassy in Kabul, and several big truck bombing attempts in Afghanistan.
US and Afghan officials have repeatedly said Pakistan’s spy agency ISI covertly backed the Haqqanis to extend its influence in Afghanistan, a charge Islamabad denies.
Security analysts say that banning the JuD is also a significant development as India, as well as the US, have long considered the charity run by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed as a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant outfit which has been blamed by New Delhi for masterminding the 2008 terrorist attacks on landmarks in Mumbai, that left 166 people dead.
Its our first step towards execution of the National Action Plan. The nation will see more positive steps towards dismantling militant groups. Both civilian and military leadership decided to ban the Haqqani Network and Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a senior intelligence official told the Express Tribune on Wednesday, 14 Jan.
Analysts believe, the decision will certainly be welcomed by Washington and Kabul as well as New Delhi.
Pakistan banned 12 new organisations days before US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Pakistan this week, officials at the interior ministry revealed. With this latest addition, they explained, the number of proscribed outfits in Pakistan has reached 72.
The Pak government has also banned Haji Khairullah Hajji Sattar Money Exchange, Rahat Limited and Roshan Money Exchange which were placed under sanctions by the UN Security Council and the United States in 2012 as according to them both were being used by Taliban commanders to fund operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Al Akhtar Trust and Al Rashid Trust have also been banned for working with al Qaeda and Jaish-e-Muhammad and facilitating activities of both groups.
Banning an organisation means freezing its assets, blocking funding sources and monitoring them properly. The next stage would involve a ban on offices, infrastructure and networks of the proscribed groups. The government can however, review its policy towards banned outfits if they change their behaviour.
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