ISLAMABAD: National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) National Coordinator Ihsan Ghani on Thursday said that the effective implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) has registered a discernible downward trend in terror-related incidents which reduced to 750 in 2017, as compared to 2,060 in 2010.
He expressed these views while talking to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
He further said that the NAP is being implemented with full commitment and vigour in coordination with all provinces, security agencies and other stakeholders, thus establishing the writ of state throughout the territory of Pakistan.
He maintained that an effective implementation of NAP has also registered significant improvements in overall law and order and internal security situation in the country, adding that national and international organisations have lauded efforts of Pakistan on rid itself of
terrorism and extremism.
“Our citizens have stood behind their police, military and their intelligence agencies, never faltering in their resolve to defeat terrorists and their twisted ideas,” Ihsan Ghani said and added terrorist attacks have been brought down and are expected to go down even further in the near future.
Highlighting NACTA’s efforts in reference to the chocking financing of terrorists and their organisations, Ghani said in Hawala Hundi domain, Rs1490 million has been recovered while
919 cases registered and 1209 persons were arrested.
Similarly, to counter money laundering, the authorities concerned registered 424 cases and arrested 574 persons.
Around 207 Suspicious Transaction Reports were received from Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) 49 of them were converted into cases and the authorities closed 48 STRs while 110 were under process, he explained.
He said that these initiatives have helped in establishing stringent controls for making money transfer system fully protected against misuse by terrorists and terrorist organisations. It has also enabled us to monitor the movement of persons under schedule-lV of ATA, 1997 to effectively combat money laundering and terrorist financing, he explained.
These have also helped in capacity building of investigators and imparting training to them in areas of money laundering, terror financing, assets tracing and financial investigation, improving registration of cases of terrorist financing timely, conclusion of investigation and securing convictions from the court, and also regulating donation collection of activities of different NGOs and controlling and timely checking on people involved in illegal forex
Trade, he elaborated.
Regulations and monitoring across border movement of currency and effective regulations of branchless/internet banking are some other steps taken in this regard, he added.
In countries where banking sector works in isolation from counter-terrorism apparatus, tracking terrorist financing is a gigantic task and the extremists primarily collect money as a subscription from sympathisers and criminal activities such as extortion, gun-running and narcotics trade, he added. Such groups transfer funds through the formal financial system, alternative remittance services, trade, cash and non-profit organisations, something we are trying to curb, he concluded.
