Pakistan reimposes ban on Islamist charities linked to militant leader

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reinstated a ban on two charities linked to the founder of an Islamist militant group that has carried out attacks in India, the interior ministry said yesterday.

The ban comes as Pakistan faces internationalpressuretoactagainst militant groups, amid escalating tension with its neighbour, India, following a suicide bomb attack on Indian police in the disputed region of Kashmir.

The attack, in which 40 Indian paramilitary troops were killed, was claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant group.

The two banned charities are linked to founder of another prominent Islamist group, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Pakistan’s National Security Committee, made up of top military and civilian officials, decided late on Thursday to ban the charities liked to LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, who has long been on a UN international terrorism blacklist.

The United States and India have blamed the LeT for numerous deadly militant attacks, including a four-day siege by gunmen in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people.

The United States has offered $10 million for information leading to Saeed’s his arrest and conviction.

“It was decided during the meeting to accelerate action against proscribed organisations,” Pakistan’s interior ministry said in a statement.

Saeed, who denies being the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks and says he has no links to militant violence, has maintained that the two charities - the Jamaat-udDawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) - are vital for helping the poor and have militant ties. — Reuters