By Elton Gomes
The United Nations Security Council issued an updated list of terrorist individuals and entities on Tuesday, which includes 139 individuals and outfits from Pakistan, according to media sources.
The new list names terrorists individuals and organisations who have resided in Pakistan, controlled operations from there, or have been linked to groups that used Pakistani territory to conduct terrorist activities.
The list includes the names of India’s most-wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim, mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack Hafiz Saeed and his organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Ladens heir apparent, tops the list, and the UN claims he is in hiding in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.
Who is on the list?
The list includes Ibrahim and mentions he has several Pakistani passports that have been issued in Rawalpindi and Karachi. The UN also adds that he owns a palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad, Karachi.
Additionally, the report details the 14 passport numbers belonging to Dawood and states he stays at White House, near Saudi Mosque, Clifton in Karachi.
Besides Dawood and Saeed, the list includes the names of Al-Qaidas Ayman al-Zawahiri and several other activists from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The second person on the list is Ramzi Mohammad bin al-Sheibah, a Yemeni national who was handed over to US authorities after being arrested in Karachi.
In addition, the list features the name of Hafiz Saeeds close aide Zaki-ur-Rehman, whom the UN identifies as chief of operations within the LeT. Wanted by the Interpol, LeT members Haji Muhammad Ashraf, Mahmoud Bahaziq, Arif Qasmani, Mohamed Yahya Mujahid, Abdul Salaam, and Zafar Iqbal also feature on the list.
Other terrorist outfits on the list include: Al Rasheed Trust, Harkatul Mujahideen, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Wafa Humanitarian Organisation, JeM, Rabita Trust, Ummah Tameer-i-Nau, Afghan Support Committee, Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Al-Harmain Foundation, Islamic Jihad Group, Al Akhtar Trust International, Harkatul Jihad Islami, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaatul Ahrar, and Khatiba Imam Al-Bukhari.
Pakistan and terrorism
The UNSCs new list comes just a day after the United States recognised the Milli Muslim League (MML) as a foreign terrorist organisation. The MML is the political front of Jamaat-ud Dawa, which is headed by Hafiz Saeed.
“Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group,” the United States State Department said in a statement. “The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence.”
Although Pakistan strongly denies having any connections with any kind of terrorist activity, the reality seems to be far from it.
In 2017, Pakistan, along with China and Afghanistan, agreed that they will not allow any country, group, or person to conduct terrorist activities on their territories. In fact, in a statement released in January this year, the Pakistani government said that it had helped “decimate Al-Qaeda and fight other groups who took advantage of ungoverned spaces, a long porous border and posed a common threat to peace.”
The statement was issued in response to US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the White House would cut millions of dollars in aid to the country. ”Through a series of major counter-terrorism operations Pakistan cleared all these areas resulting in elimination of organized terrorist presence leading to significant improvement in security in Pakistan,” the statement added.