Videos emerge of JEM collecting funds for jihad against India, US

KHYBERPAKHTUNKHWA HAS BEEN RULED BY IMRAN KHAN’S PTI PARTY SINCE 2013. THE PARTY RECENTLY RETURNED TO POWER IN PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS.

NEWDELHI: Less than two months after Pakistan was put a global watch list for failing to do enough to counter terror financing, videos have emerged of Jaish-e-mohammed operatives collecting funds after Eid-ul-azha prayers in Khyber-pakhtunkhwa province.

The videos, shot at a venue for Eid prayers at Domel sub-district of Bannu district on Tuesday, show members of the banned JEM and Al Rahmat Trust, a banned front organisation of the terror group led by Masood Azhar, openly soliciting for funds for jihad against the US and India.

The videos, shared widely on social media since Wednesday, show the JEM and Al Rahmat Trust operatives collecting funds while standing a short distance from policemen from the Antiterrorist Squad (ATS) of Khyberpakhtunkhwa Police.

In one video, two men are holding up a sheet of cloth containing a sizeable amount of cash as a third man, speaking in a mix of Urdu and Pashto, asks people attending the Eid prayers to contribute for the “jihad by Muslims” against the “kafir” forces in America and India.

The man seeking funds repeatedly states he is collecting funds for the JEM, which was banned by Pakistan in 2002.

The second video features a man exhorting people to join the jihad and support it. He says he belongs to the JEM and Al Rahmat Trust, listed by the US and the UN as a front for the JEM. In 2010, the US said the trust has provided support for militant activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan and was involved in fund-raising for JEM, including for militant training and indoctrination.

In June, Pakistan was placed in the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list for failing to curb terror financing.