Welcomed: Pakistan lauds UN decision to sanction JuA

The terror outfit was banned by Islamabad last year

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday welcomed the listing of Jamaat-ul Ahrar (JuA) by the UN Security Council as terrorist outfit.

The Security Council’s 1267 Sanctions Committee on Thursday approved the addition of JuA to the list of entities and individuals subject to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

Pakistan had proposed JuA’s addition to the list, according to a a statement  from the Foreign Office.

Following a proposal by Pakistan, the militant group was added to the Islamic State and al Qaeda Sanctions List by the Security Council's Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee on Thursday.

The United States had added the militant outfit to its list of global terrorists last year.



“The JuA operates from Nangarhar province of Afghanistan and has been involved in a series of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan,” said the  statement, adding that Pakistan had proscribed the terrorist outfit last year.

An offshoot of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the JuA has claimed responsibility of some of the major terrorist attacks in Pakistan. It not only targeted the security forces but also carried out attacks at public places causing massive causalities.

The organisation is also believed to be closely linked with the Da’ish in Afghanistan.

JuA’s presence on the Afghan soil has been one of reasons of strained ties between Islamabad and Kabul. Pakistan has long been seeking action against its terrorist sanctuaries on the Afghan soil.

Recent reports suggested that both Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to conduct joint operations along their shared border against such terrorist hideouts under the supervision of the United States.

Islamabad has often blamed Kabul for hosting JuA and other militants responsible for carrying out major terrorist attacks inside the country, including the 2016 Easter bombing in Lahore and the suicide attack on Lal Shahbaz Qalandar's shrine in Sehwan earlier this year.

Spokesperson of the splinter group, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had surrendered before the security forces in May.

In a subsequent video confession, he publicly admitted that Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) are funding and helping the TTP and its affiliates carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan.