India bans over 100 global terror outfits

New Delhi, May 16 (ANI): In a major step to enable agencies take immediate legal action against terror outfits, the Union Government has banned over one hundred such groups linked to Al-Qaeda across the globe.

The Government has declared all such groups as terrorist organizations.

Terror outfits like Jemaah Islamiyah, involved in Bali bombing of Indonesia, Islamic Jihad Group of Libya, the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad were declared as terrorist organisations by the United Nations Security Council ,UNSC.

The government has now declared these over 100 outfits as outlawed in India by putting their names along with 33 other outfits in the list of banned organisations of Ministry of Home Affairs.

Other prominent names in the list include International Islamic Relief Organisation of Philippines and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan among others.

The Home Ministry's revised list of banned outfits also for the first time includes the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) as one of the terrorist organisations under the UAP Act.

The action under amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is seen as a move to avoid any legal ambiguity in case Indian security agencies want to lay their hands on anyone associated with these bodies.

Though names of three pro-Khalistan terror outfits --Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan Comando Force (KCF) and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) -- have been on the list for long, the move to include KZF in the revised list is seen in the light of increased activities of the outfit in India in the past couple of years.

Officials believe that the revised list will help the security agencies in pursuing cases against the terrorists belonging to these outfits in courts more effectively.

Prominent in the list of banned outfits in India include - Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Tahrik-e-Furqan, Al Badr,Jamiat-ul-Mujahidden, al-Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,Harkat-ul-Ansar, Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen,Al-Umar-Mujahideen, Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front, ULFA, NDFB, LTTE, SIMI, Deendar Anjuman, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist-People's War), Maoist Communist Centre and CPI (Maoist). (ANI)