New Delhi, Sept 9: The Taliban-led Afghan government has rejected repeated claims by Pakistan that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder Masood Azhar is operating from Afghanistan, with a senior Afghan Foreign Ministry official stating that the militant leader is not in the country.
Kabul also reiterated that Afghan territory would not be allowed to be used against any other country.
Pakistan has for years claimed that Azhar fled to Afghanistan, amid continued international pressure on Islamabad to take action against terrorist organisations and their leadership. The issue assumes significance as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is set to review Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism financing at its upcoming plenary.
Azhar remains wanted in India in connection with several major terror attacks, including the 2001 Parliament attack, 2008 Mumbai attacks, 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing. The UN Security Council designated him a global terrorist in May 2019.
Pakistan was placed on the FATF grey list from 2018 to 2022 over deficiencies in its anti-money laundering framework and efforts to combat terror financing. As part of its efforts to exit the list, Islamabad was required to take measures against groups such as JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), their affiliates and their leadership.
Azhar was convicted in absentia by a Pakistani court in 2021. However, Pakistan has maintained that he is not present in the country and had allegedly crossed the Durand Line into Afghanistan in May 2019.
According to people familiar with FATF-related developments, Pakistan continues to face scrutiny over its efforts to apprehend Azhar. They alleged that Islamabad has failed to fulfil commitments made to the global watchdog after its removal from the grey list.
Pakistan was removed from the FATF grey list in 2022, with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) continuing to monitor certain aspects of its anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing measures.
The Taliban government had also denied in September 2022 that Azhar was in Afghanistan, while stating that Pakistan had not made any formal communication to Kabul regarding his alleged presence there.
