ISLAMABAD - The federal government has proscribed a group identified as Khatam-ul-Anbia for being an offshoot of an outlawed sectarian militant organisation taking the tally of banned outfits in the country to 77.
Khatam-ul-Anbia (KuA) has been banned immediately under the Anti-terrorism Act (ATA) 1997, says a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior. KuA has been banned with immediate effect from August 19, 2020, according to the official list of banned organisations of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA).
Though the interior ministry did not give the details of KuA regarding its history of being an offshoot of an outlawed sectarian militant organisation, yet the security officials claimed that the group was linked to the banned Ansar-ul-Hussain.
The federal government had banned Ansar-ul-Hussain on December 30, 2016. Ansar-ul-Hussain is a banned organisation that was allegedly involved in recruiting fighters in Kurram district and other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for fighting against ISIS in Syria, said Mohammad Amir Rana, an Islamabad-based security analyst. He said that the organisation had its enormous presence in Kurram Agency of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) before being banned.
On May 7, 2020, the federal government had declared three Sindh-based entities as proscribed organisations under ATA 1997 amid Covid-19 outbreak in the country According to the notification of Ministry of Interior, these organisations included Jeay Sindh Quami Mahaz - Aresar Group (JSQM-A), Sindhu Desh Revolution Army (SRA) and Sindhu Desh Liberation Army (SLA).
These entities were the 2020’s first addition to the central list of proscribed organisations as earlier two organisations were banned on July 26, 2019 by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. These were Hizb-ul-Ahrar (HuA) and Balochistan RaajiAjoi-R-Sangar (BRAS), according to the NACTA’s list of banned organisations.
In 2019, the government had also banned Jamaat-ul-Da'awa (JuD) and its seven affiliated Lahore-based organisations including Al-Anfaal Trust, Idara-e-Khidmat-e-Khalaq, Al Dawat-ul-Irshad Pakistan, Al-Hamad Trust, Mosques & Welfare Trust, Al Madina Foundation and Maaz Bin Jabal Educational Trust.
Similarly, Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), the charity wing of JuD, and its two Lahore-based affiliated organisations including Al-Fazal Foundation/Trust and Al-Easar Foundation were also banned the same year. Besides this, Balawaristan National Front (Abdul Hameed Khan Group) was banned on February 26, 2019 and Pak Turk International CAG Education Foundation was put to the list on April 18, 2019.
The two affiliated groups of proscribed Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) including Al-Rehmat Trust, Bahawalpur and Al-Furqan Trust, Karachi were also outlawed on May 10, 2019.
After 9/11, then government had started proscribing suspected militant organisations under ATA and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (leJ) and Sipah-i-Mohammad Pakistan (SMP) were the first two entities that were proscribed on Aug 14, 2001.
After this, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (leT), Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammad (TNSM) and Tehreek-i-Islami were banned concurrently on Jan 14, 2002.