The Pakistan authorities have written a letter to the Taliban’s foreign ministry in Afghanistan requesting the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar, Pakistani media reported on Tuesday.
The letter sent by the Pakistani side indicates that Pakistani authorities believe Maulana Masood Azhar is “hiding somewhere in Afghanistan”.
Pakistan believes that the UN-designated terrorist is most likely hiding in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province or Kunar province. According to a report by a Pakistani news channel, it is yet to be confirmed if Azhar shifted to Afghanistan before the Taliban took control in Kabul last year.
The move occurs after the western powers supported India’s appeal at a convention of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for action against 30 important terrorist leaders that includes Masood Azhar. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and LeT operative Sajid Mir.
The Pakistani authorities had informed FATF that they believed Azhar might have fled to Afghanistan, specifically in the Nangarhar province where JeM has eight training camps.
According to FATF, Pakistan must take action against Azhar if it wants out of the grey list.
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