The provincial police claimed on Monday to have arrested a recruiter for the self-styled Islamic State (IS) from the Badaber area of Peshawar.
The suspect was allegedly involved in recruiting for IS, said a police official.
“The suspect arrested, Dadullah, belongs to Afghanistan, and was recruiting for an international militant organisation,” said SSP Operations Mian Saeed.
The police official added that a First Information Report [FIR] has been registered against the suspect. Weapons and hand grenades were also recovered from the arrested individual, according to the police official.
In January this year, security forces had arrested a man they believed was the commander of IS in the country as well as two accomplices involved in recruiting and sending fighters to Syria.
Rifts among the Taliban and disputes about the future of the insurgency have contributed to the rise of Islamic State’s popularity but security sources believe there are no operational links yet between IS and South Asia.
Disgruntled former Taliban commanders have formed the so-called Khorasan chapter — an umbrella IS group covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other South Asian countries — in recent months but have not been involved in any fighting.
Their leader, Hafiz Saeed Khan Orakzai, a former Pakistani Taliban commander, appeared in a video address urging people in the region to join the group.
