US blocks Pakistan's request for UN to sanction JuA terrorist Khurasani

ISLAMABAD – The United States, a country that used to push Pakistan for taking fair action against terrorists, has turned out to be a supporter of a militant group, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, as it is believed to have blocked a Pakistan’s request seeking UN sanctions on JuA leader Abdul Wali, commonly known as Umer Khalid Khurasani.

Although Islamabad has not yet received any information formally about the development regarding his request with the UN Security Council’s sanctions committee for listing Khurasani, the Foreign Office has informally learnt that the process has been halted due to an objection by the US, Dawn News reported.

Washington raised concerns over mentioning the location of JuA leader as Afghanistan in Islamabad’s request made by around nine months ago. On Pakistan’s request, the terrorist group had been earlier listed by the UNSC in July 2017 mentioning its based as Lalpura, in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.

JuA was listed for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of, otherwise supporting acts or activities of and either owned or controlled, directly or indirectly by, or otherwise supporting Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant”.

The militant outfit is one of the splinter groups of the banned TTP and it first came to prominence when it claimed responsibility for Wagah suicide attack in Lahore. It has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in Pakistan, including the 2014 attacks in Mohmand Agency, 2015 Lahore Church attack, blast in a Lahore’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal park and others.

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The US action to block Pakistan's requestion comes after the bilateral relations deteriorated following President Donald Trump's South Asia and Afghanistan policy last year.