Some Daesh founders were Afghans

LAHORE

Taking exception to Afghan Government’s allegations attributing Pakistanis’ enrolment in Daesh, Pakistan’s defence authorities have disclosed that founding fathers of Daesh namely Abd-Ur-Rauf Khadm

(late) and Abd-Ur-Rahim Muslim Dost are Afghan nationals and that a number of TTA (Tehreek e Taliban Afghanistan) members have joined the rank and file of Daesh.

Talking to The News on the condition of anonymity, the defence sources said that all the militants of another militant group active in the region namely IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) have announced allegiance to ISK (Islamic State Khurasan). Additionally, there are reports of presence of militants of ETIM (The East Turkestan Islamic Movement), Tajikistan, Chechnya, etc in the ranks of ISK.

According to the sources, a campaign has been launched in electronic and social media in Afghanistan that militants of Daesh are Pakistanis. The sources added, “Apparently, this propaganda is aimed at convincing the people of Central Asian countries, Russia, Iran and other nations that Daesh was an impending threat to them and that it was emanating from Pakistan. Afghan authorities are continuously accusing Pakistan of lending support to Daesh in Afghanistan. They allege that all militants of Daesh hail from Orakzai Agency of Pakistan and are committing brutalities against Afghans and that they also constitute a threat to the regional countries”.

The reality, according to Pakistan’s defence sources, is that “Afghan authorities have been using the absconding militants against Pakistan in collaboration with India but when they turned on their patrons, Afghan Government functionaries are now blaming Pakistan for their own misdeeds/ inefficiency and incapability to root out a few hundred militants of Daesh from its soil. There are allegations that USA and Afghan Goverment drop men and materials in support of Daesh in different parts of Nangarhar in recent past which the Afghans themselves have witnessed”. Yet another piece of information given on this occasion by Pakistani defence sources is: “Hafiz Saeed Khan Orakzai and his followers were previously affiliated to TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan). They still have close relations with leadership of TTP, JuA (Jamaat ul Ahrar), LI (Lashkar-e-Islam) which is evident from the fact that not a single incident of hostilities of Daesh with these groups has been reported so far”.  The sources further informed The News that when Operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched, militants from Pakistan fled to Afghanistan where they have been provided not only sanctuaries but special cards also for medical facilities, ration and for movement without any check.