‘Pak counting its jihadis abroad’

Islamabad, Aug. 30: Pakistan is collecting data of its nationals who are suspected of waging jihad abroad along with terror groups, an senior official said, amid fears of blowback from them especially after the defeat of the Islamic State of Uraq and Syria in parts of Iraq.

About 100 Pakistanis have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the ISIS since the rise of the dreaded terror group in the Middle East, a media report had said.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior was told on Tuesday that National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) has begun the process of compiling the data.

The authority had completed the task of data compilation on suspected militants who had fought in conflict zones such as Yemen, Iraq or Syria, Nacta chief Ihsan Ghani was quoted as saying by the Dawn. “We are in the process of having the data verified from federal and provincial departments,” he told the committee during a briefing on the implementation of th counterterrorism plan.