Kabul Rejects Pakistan's Masood Azhar Claim, Says JeM Founder Not In Afghanistan

The Taliban regime has rejected Pakistan's repeated claims that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder Masood Azhar is operating from Afghanistan, with a senior Afghan Foreign Ministry official confirming that he is not in the country.

Kabul reiterated that Afghan territory will not be used against any other nation.

Islamabad has long maintained that Azhar fled to Afghanistan, especially as it faces pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to crack down on terror groups and their leadership.

The Paris-based global watchdog is set to review Pakistan's anti-terrorism efforts at its upcoming plenary.

Azhar remains wanted in India for major terror attacks, including the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2016 Pathankot airbase assault and the 2019 Pulwama bombing.

Pakistan was placed on the FATF grey list between 2018 and 2022 for systemic deficiencies in anti-money laundering measures and failure to counter terror financing.

The key reasons included Pakistan's failure to curb terror financing, particularly linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba networks, besides weak implementation of financial sanctions on UN-designated persons, people tracking FATF's actions said.

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Pakistan's FATF commitments and Azhar case

To exit the grey list, Pakistan was forced to take several steps, including banning JeM and LeT and their fronts, and convicting leaders of these outfits.

One of the individuals Pakistan convicted in absentia in 2021 was Azhar. He was designated as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council in May 2019.

In 2022, Pakistan was allowed to exit the grey list on the condition that the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) would continue reviewing its performance on specific points.

One of the issues under review by the APG, at the request of FATF, was Pakistan's efforts to arrest Azhar.

After its exit from the grey list and a decline in international pressure and scrutiny, Pakistan has backslided on assurances it made to FATF, people tracking the developments said.

Pakistan has failed to take steps to arrest Azhar, claiming that he was not in the country, they said.

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Pakistan says Azhar escaped across Durand Line

Islamabad had claimed that Azhar escaped across the Durand Line in May 2019 and has remained at large since then.

In September 2022, the Taliban government spokesperson denied that Azhar was in Afghanistan or that Pakistan had sent any formal communication regarding his presence in the country.