Pakistan blacklists Hafiz Saeed’s JuD, FIF amid US pressure

Amid growing pressure from Trump administration to crack down on terror outfits, Pakistan interior ministry on Saturday blacklisted 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and several other terror organizations, reported Express News.

The move comes a day after the US suspended about $2 billion in security aid to Pakistan for failing to clamp down on the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network terror groups and dismantle their safe havens.

US President Donald Trump had on January 1 accused Pakistan of giving nothing to the US but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists in return for $33 billion aid over the last 15 years.


Rattled by US threat and under pressure to win back its trust, Pakistan interior ministry in a press release made public as many as 72 groups banned by it. The list also includes a subsidiary of JuD known as Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation.

Pakistan has also blocked financial assistance of any sort to the blacklisted organizations. The press release stated that providing any kind of assistance to any of the blacklisted organisations, financially or otherwise, would be a punishable offence.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's financial regulatory body had banned Saeed’s organizations from collecting donations.

In January last year, the Pakistan government had launched a crackdown against JuD, placing Saeed under house arrest.

However, Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Saeed, was released in November 2017 after the Lahore high court refused to extend the period of his confinement.

Following his release, terrorist Saeed announced entry into politics and said that he will be contesting the 2018 general elections in Pakistan.