Islamabad [Pakistan]: Facing mounting international pressure, Pakistan on Tuesday said 44 activists of various outfits, including the brother and the son of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, have been taken into “preventive detention” as part of a crackdown on terror groups.
However, there was no word on Masood Azhar, regarding whom India has been demanding action for long.
Addressing a press conference, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi said an investigation will be conducted against those detained for two weeks to find if they have links with terrorism.
The initiatives will be shared with all key stakeholders, he said.
Among those detained were Masood Azhar’s brother Mufti Abdur Rauf and son Hamza Azhar, he said.
He said that the objective behind the crackdown is to ensure that Pakistan’s soil is not used for terror activities in any way.
“It is our own initiative, we have not done this under any pressure,” Afridi noted.
Interior Ministry Secretary said that if needed, the investigation can go beyond two weeks.
Quoting a statement from the Pakistan ministry of interior, Geo News reported that the decision for the preventive decision was taken during a high-level meeting on Monday.
The action, claimed by Pakistan, comes amidst intense world pressure on the Imran Khan government to act against terror outfits, particularly in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, after India mounted a diplomatic campaign in this regard. The US has been particularly pushing Pakistan to take concrete action.
India recently shared a dossier with Pakistan and key foreign powers, specifying how JeM was involved in Pulwama and various other terror attacks in the country.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]