09/03/2019
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India said on Saturday Pakistan had “plenty to hide” by preventing journalists from accessing the site of an air strike by Indian fighter jets inside Pakistan.
Citing “security concerns”, Pakistani security officials on Thursday barred a Reuters team from climbing a hill in northeastern Pakistan to the site of a madrasa, or religious school, and a group of surrounding buildings that was targeted by Indian warplanes last week.
“The fact that Pakistan has now refused access to journalists from visiting the site means that they have plenty to hide,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters.
He reiterated the government’s stand that India’s air strikes were “successful and achieved the desired objectives”, after being asked about a Reuters report that said high-resolution satellite images reviewed by Reuters showed that the madrasa appeared to be still standing.
Source: Reuters
Posted in air strike, blocking access, bombing site, foreign ministry spokesman, hiding information, India alert, Indian fighter jets, Indian warplanes, journalists, madrasas, Pakistan, Pakistani security officials, Raveesh Kumar, religious school, reporters, Reuters team, Uncategorized |
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07/03/2019
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan intensified its crackdown against Islamist militants on Thursday, with the government announcing it had taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as part of its push against banned groups.
The move represents Pakistan’s biggest move against banned organisations in years and appears to be targeting Islamic welfare organisations that the United States says are a front for militant activities.
Pakistan is facing pressure from global powers to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police.
The escalating tension in the wake of the bombing led to a major confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals, with both countries carrying out aerial bombing missions and even engaging in a brief dogfight that prompted fears of a war.
Pakistani officials say the crackdown is part of a long-planned drive and not a response to Indian anger over what New Delhi calls Islamabad’s failure to rein in militant groups operating on Pakistani soil.
Previous large-scale crackdowns against anti-India militants have broadly been cosmetic, with the proscribed groups able to survive and continue operations.
The interior ministry said law enforcement agencies had placed 121 people in “preventive detention” as part of the crackdown that began this week.
“Provincial governments have taken in their control management and administration of 182 seminaries (madaris)”, the ministry said in a statement, referring to religious schools.
What to do with madrasas is a thorny issue in Pakistan, a deeply conservative Muslim nation where religious schools are often blamed for radicalisation of youngsters but are the only education available to millions of poor children.
The interior ministry said other institutions from different groups had been taken over, including 34 schools or colleges, 163 dispensaries, 184 ambulances, five hospitals and eight offices of banned organisations.
Many banned groups such as JeM run seminaries, which counter-terrorism officials say are used as recruiting grounds for militant outfits
Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which operates hospitals and a fleet of ambulances, is estimated to run about 300 madrasas across the country. Pakistan’s government banned the group this week.
JuD calls itself a humanitarian charity but the U.S. State Department has designated it a “foreign terrorist organisation” and calls it a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), a Pakistan-based group accused of orchestrating attacks in India, including the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.
An image casts doubt on India airstrike claims
JuD called the crackdown unfair and said it would seek to counter the government action in courts.
“The whole nation is asking that what message the government wants to send by sealing welfare organisations and kicking students out,” said JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid.
Pakistan has long used Islamist groups to pursue its aims in the region, but it has denied New Delhi’s accusations it actively supports militants fighting Indian forces in India’s part of Muslim-majority Kashmir.
The South Asian neighbours have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir which they both claim in whole but rule in part.
Source: Reuters
Posted in 1947, aerial bombing missions, ambulances, banned organisations, Britain, counter-terrorism officials, crackdown, dispensaries, dogfight, foreign terrorist organisation, hospitals, humanitarian charity, independence, Indian forces, interior ministry, Islamabad, Islamic welfare organisations, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), JeM run seminaries, Kashmir, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), madrasas, militant outfits, militants, mumbai, Muslim nation, Muslim-majority Kashmir, New Delhi, nuclear-armed rivals, Pakistan, paramilitary police, proscribed groups, provincial governments, recruiting ground, religious schools, schools or colleges,, seminaries (madaris), South Asian neighbours, U.S. State Department, Uncategorized, United States |
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