Pakistan’s interior ministry has banned 11 organisations under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) for their alleged affiliation with proscribed outfits Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), local media reported on Sunday.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad of Masood Azhar masterminded the deadly Pulwama terror attack in February this year that killed 40 CRPF jawans.

According to a notification issued by the ministry, these organisations include Al Anfal Trust (Lahore), Idara-e-Khidmat Khalaq (Lahore), Al Dawatul Irshad (Lahore), Al Hamd Trust (Lahore and Faisalabad), Al-Fazal Foundation/Trust (Lahore), Mosque and Welfare Trust (Lahore), Al Madinah Foundation (Lahore), Muaz bin Jabal Education Trust (Lahore), Al Eesar Foundation (Lahore), Al Rehmat Trust Organisation (Bahawalpur) and Al Furqan Trust (Karachi).

The action has been taken in line with the National Action Plan (NAP), the notification added.

The NAP is Pakistan’s 20-point programme to rid the country of terrorism. It was enacted on December 25, 2014 after a terror attack on schoolchildren in Peshawar which left 133 dead.

Earlier in February during a meeting of the National Security Committee, the government decided to ban the JuD and the FIF and launch a crackdown on the JeM, which was banned in 2002 by then military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.

In March, the government sealed or took over administrative control of several establishments run by JuD and the FIF.

New prayer leaders and teachers were appointed by the Auqaf department to replace the ones at the mosques and seminaries run by the two banned outfits.

Masood Azhar, the head of the JeM, was designated a global terrorist by the UN Security Council earlier this month following the Pulwama suicide bombing. China had blocked four previous moves to label Azhar as a global terrorist.

Hafiz Saeed, chief of JuD, was banned on December 10, 2008 by the UN Security Council after the Mumbai terror attacks in November that year in which 166 people were killed.

First Published: May 12, 2019 13:48 IST