Pakistan anti-terror courts sentences 12 JuD and JeM members

LAHORE: The anti-terrorism courts in Pakistan's Punjab province have handed down up to five years imprisonment to 12 members of the banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) on the charges of terrorism financing.

According to the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police, it arrested the JuD and JeM members sometimes ago on the charges of terror financing and presented them before anti-terrorism courts of different districts of Punjab for trial.

"The ATCs sentenced four leaders of JuD, Asghar Ali, Junaid Irshad and Ijaz Ahmad of Rawalpindi and Abdul Khaliq of Rahim Yar Khan, for two years each imprisonment with fines," the CTD said in a statement here on Monday.

Hafiz Saeed led JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attacks.

It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The statement said that eight local leaders of JeM have been convicted by ATCs for a term of up to five years.

It identified the convicted JeM members as Iftikhar Ahmad, Mohammad Ajmal, Bilal Makki, Abrar Ahmad and Irfan Ahmad of Gujranwala; Hafeezullah, Mazhar Nawaz and Abdul Latif of Rawalpindi.

The JeM recently claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir that left 40 CRPF personnel dead, increasing tensions between India and Pakistan.

The CTD has recently launched a crackdown on terror financing across the Punjab province which is considered to be a stronghold of JuD and JeM.

It arrested some activists of the Saeed and Azhar's organisations and said the clampdown on terror financing will continue.

The Imran Khan government had arrested over 100 members of banned outfits including JeM chief Masood Azhar's son and brother and taken control of JeM, Haifiz Saeed's JuD and Falahai Insaniat Foundation (FIF) properties including seminaries and mosques across the country following immense international pressure built up after Pulwama attack.

The government termed the action in accordance with the National Action Plan and meeting the obligations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).