SIALKOT (News Desk) – The Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) have arrested a group of eight suspected terrorists who were running a cell in Sialkot’s Daska tehsil to persuade and recruit new fighters for Syria and Iraq based Islamic State (IS) group.
The suspects identified as Jawad Ahmad aka Abu Hafs, Amir Sohail, Ijaz Ahmad, Adnan Babar aka Danu Kabarria, Saeed Ahmad aka Abuzar, Yasir Ali, Hamza Imtiaz, and Waqas Ahmad; originally belonged to Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a group headed by Hafiz Saeed which has been placed under watch but not banned in Pakistan, but later they left the group to join ISIS.
According to the Dawn, an FIR against the group was registered on Monday but it is not clear when the CTD officials had arrested the suspects.
The report which quoted information from documents of CTD said that “suspects had taken a oath to overthrow democracy in Pakistan and wage an armed struggle to introduce Khilafah.” The members of group hailed from different cities of Punjab but they used Sialkot as their base camp.
At least three of the eight suspects had also taken training to use weapons although it is not clear whether the group which trained them was JuD or any other IS-linked group.
The group was introduced to the ideology of Islamic State group by abar Butt aka Abu Akasha and Nadeem Butt and had direct connection with Abu Muavia Salfi, a militant who managed Pakistani fighters in Syria and Iraq, which was established with help of Abubakr Akasha.
