Maulana Masood Azhar not in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan: Taliban

Kabul, Sep 14 (IANS) Following Pakistans letter to Kabul seeking to locate, report and arrest Maulana Masood Azhar -- the head of banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed -- the Taliban government on Wednesday denied his presence in Afghanistan, media reports said.On Tuesday, Pakistan wrote to Kabul asking it to arrest the JeM chief, a UN-desiganted terrorist most wanted in India, stating that he was hiding somewhere in the Taliban-led country, The News reported.In the letter, Pakistan wrote that Azhar was possibly residing in two different Afghan provinces — Nangarhar and Kunar.Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban, said that the banned outfit's chief is not in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan, The News reported.Islamabad had formally banned JeM on terrorism charges on January 14, 2002, during General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf's rule in Pakistan.After 17 years of ban on JeM, the Interior Ministry -- after receiving credible intelligence -- banned two more organisations named Al-Rehmat Trust, Bahawalpur, and Al-Furqan Trust, Karachi, on May 10, 2019.Defunct JeM chief Azhar being a suspected terrorist also remained part of Schedule 4 of the Anti Terrorism Act 1999. He has allegedly planned multiple terrorist activities in different places, The News reported.
--IANS san/arm

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