Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: July 6, 2010
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/JuD-a-terror-outfit-admits-Pakistan/H1-Article1-568048.aspx
Declaring Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) as a terror
outfit, Pakistani authorities have formed special task forces to crack down
on 16 radical groups, including the Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), in the wake of
the suicide attack on the Data Darbar shrine.
The Home Department of Punjab has set up the
task forces comprising officials of the CID, Special Branch and Anti-Terrorism
Squad in several districts of the province, said a report by BBC Urdu.
The groups against which action will be taken
include the JuD, LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Sahaba,
and Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi, among others.
Nine of the groups belong to the hardline
Deobandi sect, three are Shia organisations while three are influenced by
the ideology of Ahl-e-Hadith.
The other groups on the list are Sipah-e-Muhammad
Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Jafriya Pakistan, Millat-e-Islamiya Pakistan, Khudamul
Islam, Islami Tehrik Pakistan, Hizb-ut-Tehrir, Jamiat-ul-Ansar, Jamiat-ul-Furqan,
Khair-un-Naas International Trust, Islamic Students Movement and Balochistan
Liberation Army.
The BLA is a Baloch nationalist group and
the ISM is a radical students' organisation.
However, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is
not among the groups to be targeted by the task forces.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said the
Taliban and al Qaeda are working with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba
in parts of the country, especially Punjab.
The Sunni Tehrik also has been placed under
observation by the Home Department.
About 4,000 people are currently under surveillance
under the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act for alleged links with extremist
groups.
They have to inform police stations in their
areas about their movements.
The task forces have been advised to establish
close contact with intelligence officers in the districts to exchange information
on the 17 organisations that will be the focus of the crackdown.
An official of the Punjab Home Department
told BBC Urdu that orders had been issued to launch crackdowns on the hideouts
of these groups and arrest those connected with them immediately.
The task forces have also been asked to trace
those who are financing these groups and their other sources of funding so
that action can be taken under the Anti-Terrorist Act.
The task forces led by district police chiefs
will report to the Punjab Home Department.
