LAHORE (Staff Report) – Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah has said the security agencies are trying to reach possible recruits of ISIS, or Daesh, in Pakistan.
“Not more than a hundred Pakistanis people have gone from Pakistan to Syria and Iraq to join the terrorist organisation, Islamic State, or Daesh,” the law minister told the media on Monday while comparing Pakistan’s performance with other countries.
“Daesh will not be allowed to stem its roots in Pakistan,” Sanaullah said while lauding the role of law enforcement agencies in elimination of terrorism from the country.
On Sunday, Karachi police arrested Sindh Islamic State (IS) head Umar Kathiwer for his involvement in Safoora tragedy.
Read: Sindh IS chief arrested in Karachi
“Pakistan has overpowered terrorist activities up to a great extent,” said Sanaullah, adding that ISIS (Daesh) will not be let settle in the country, especially Punjab.
Last week, eight suspected members of the Islamic State group were arrested from Daska, Sialkot.
Read more: Eight who ‘left JuD to join IS’ arrested in Sialkot
According to the provincial minister, they were trying to establish their group network and had plans to carry out attacks.
On Monday, Sanaullah said more arrests are expected as the law enforcement agencies are trying to reach possible IS recruits, with the help of arrested persons.
Read more: Pakistani woman with her four children leaves for Syria to join ISIS
Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (IS) group, which controls some territories in Iraq and Syria.
The government has officially denied that IS is operating in Pakistan, which has been wracked by al Qaeda and Taliban-linked violence for more than a decade. But authorities have expressed fears that IS could find recruits among Pakistan’s myriad of extremist militant groups.
In May, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack that claimed the lives of at least 43 members of the Shia Ismaili minority in the southern port city of Karachi.
