PAKISTAN BANS TAJK, FRONT FOR SAEED’S JUD

NEW DELHI: Tehreek-e-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir (TAJK), a front formed by Jamaat-ud-Dawah days after its chief Hafiz Saeed was placed under house arrest in January, was banned by the Pakistan government against the backdrop of mounting pressure on Islamabad from an international watchdog. Pakistan’s National Counter-Terrorism Authority added TAJK to the list of organisations proscribed by the interior ministry.

NEW DELHI: Tehreek-e-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir (TAJK), a front formed by Jamaat-ud-Dawah days after its chief Hafiz Saeed was placed under house arrest in January, was banned by the Pakistan government against the backdrop of mounting pressure on Islamabad from an international watchdog.

Pakistan’s National Counter-Terrorism Authority added TAJK to the list of organisations proscribed by the interior ministry on June 8.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Pakistani Taliban are also banned by the interior ministry.

However, the JuD and its other front organisation, Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation, continue to be on the ministry’s list of “organisations under watch” – meaning they are not outlawed.

The move came into effect less than a fortnight before a meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Spain, evaluated the steps taken by Pakistan to cut funding to terror groups such as LeT and JuD, which have been banned by the UN and the US.

Sources said Pakistan’s decision to place Hafiz Saeed under house arrest on January 30 was largely prompted by pressure from the FATF and the US.