Sanctions imposed: Peshawar madrassa ‘terror training base’
It is the first time a madrassa has been the target of sanctions.
The Treasury said the Ganj Madrassa in Peshawar was being used as training and recruiting base by the two militant groups. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
WASHINGTON:
The US Treasury on Tuesday set economic sanctions on a Pakistan Islamic school it branded a “terrorist training centre” supporting al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The Treasury said the Ganj Madrassa in Peshawar was being used as training and recruiting base by the two militant groups, as well as the radical Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeJ) blamed for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
The head of the madrassa, Fazeel-a-Tul Shaykh Abu Mohammed Ameen Al-Peshawari, known as Shaykh Aminullah, has been a US and UN-designated terrorist since 2009, for his support for al Qaeda and the Taliban.
But it was the first time a madrassa has been the target of sanctions, which forbid any Americans from having any business interaction with it, and freeze any of its assets that come under US jurisdiction.
“Today’s action is the first designation of a madrassa that is being abused by terrorist organisations,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2013.
The US Treasury on Tuesday set economic sanctions on a Pakistan Islamic school it branded a “terrorist training centre” supporting al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The Treasury said the Ganj Madrassa in Peshawar was being used as training and recruiting base by the two militant groups, as well as the radical Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeJ) blamed for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
The head of the madrassa, Fazeel-a-Tul Shaykh Abu Mohammed Ameen Al-Peshawari, known as Shaykh Aminullah, has been a US and UN-designated terrorist since 2009, for his support for al Qaeda and the Taliban.
But it was the first time a madrassa has been the target of sanctions, which forbid any Americans from having any business interaction with it, and freeze any of its assets that come under US jurisdiction.
“Today’s action is the first designation of a madrassa that is being abused by terrorist organisations,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2013.