New Delhi: The financial action task force (FATF)- global watchdog on terrorism financing is expanding its monitoring jurisdiction to nations supporting terrorism.
Pakistan has already attracted the FATF’s attention and this new development will increase the scrutiny of Pakistan who has been hiding terror groups.
The FATF’s recent public statement issued in October observed that “the funding of terrorism or the resourcing of a terrorist entity by any State remains incompatible with the FATF standards. The FATF will remain diligent in identifying new risks associated with the financing of ISIL, Al Qaeda and their affiliates and will continue to take robust measures to ensure that these terrorist financing risks are mitigated.”
The FATF in 2018 broadened its monitoring of terror financing with regard to Islamic State (ISIL) to include Al Qaeda, its affiliates, and terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed which are all listed under the UN Security Council’s resolution 1267.
After the FATF plenary placed Pakistan in Grey List it made a high-level commitment to work with FATF “to address its strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies.”
According to the FATF statement, its internal investigations have found that ISIL is moving to other options to fund its operations after it’s defeat in achieving oil revenues.
ISIL is moving to other means like “self-funding, crowd-funding, contributions from family” to extortion, kidnapping and looting to funding small terror cells and lone actors, noted FATF.
Speaking of Al Qaeda, the FATF noted the “resurgence” of AQ and said, “in some regions, Al Qaeda and affiliates are now moving from stable funding to one-time payments for specific terror acts or military operations.”
The plenary will also monitor Cash transfers, remittances, pre-paid cards, digital wallets, online payment methods over phone etc, TOI reports.
If oil revenues were funding ISIL’s operations then Al Qaeda is probably using mining activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan (several mineral rich areas go unpoliced) to fund its terror operations. This could also come under the FATF radar soon.