*Secret report says IS has claimed to have recruited 10 to 12,000 fighters in Hangu and Kurrum Agency
*Balochistan home secy admits increase in pro-IS wall-chalking but denies claims of presence of IS militants on ground in province
The Balochistan government has conveyed a confidential report to the federal government and law enforcement agencies warning of increased footprints of militant organisation Islamic State (IS), also known by the Arabic acronym Daish, in Pakistan.
The secret information report is dated October 31, and states that IS has claimed to have recruited a massive 10 to 12,000 followers from the Hangu and Kurram Agency tribal areas.
“It has been reliably learnt that Daish has offered some elements of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) to join hands in Pakistan. Daish has also formed a 10-member Strategic Planning Wing,” the report from the Home and Tribal Affair Department of Balochistan says.
The report states that IS plans to attack military installations and government buildings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in retaliation to the army-led Zarb-e-Azb operation in North Waziristan and also plans to target members of the minority Shia community.
The Balochistan government called for heightened vigilance and security measures in the province as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to prevent and pre-empt such attacks.
It has moreover called for sensitising law enforcement agencies on the issue and an increased monitoring of LeJ members.
The warning comes days after six top commanders of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), including its now defunct spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, have announced their allegiance to IS’s caliph Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi Al Qureshi Al-Hussaini.
The Taliban spokesman said he, along with TTP chief for Orakzai Agency Saeed Khan, TTP chief for Kurram Agency Daulat Khan, TTP’s Khyber Agency chief Fateh Gul Zaman, TTP’s Peshawar chief Mufti Hassan and TTP’s Hangu chief Khalid Mansoor, have announced their allegiance to Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi.
The Islamic State’s presence has not been officially established so far.
BALOCHISTAN GOVT PLAYS DOWN REPORT:
Commenting on the secret report, Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani on Saturday admitted an increase in wall-chalking with slogans in support of IS but denied claims of the presence of its militants on ground in the province.
“The letter regarding the activity of IS was routine information of officers which had been passed to the federal government. There was nothing serious about IS in Balochistan,” Durrani said.
“We routinely send letters regarding the activities that happen in Balochistan. Neither IS exists nor their sympathisers in Balochistan,” he added.
“There could be a few people involved in walk-chalking. This is restricted in slogans. Nothing more than that,” he added.
“The ideology of IS is based on hatred against Shias, while 99.9 per cent of the people in Balochistan do not feel the same way. Similarly, Shias do not have the same feelings for Sunni Muslims,” he added.
Why is Allah letting this happen???
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