Taliban's presence in Pak Punjab officially accepted

Islamabad, May 17 (ANI): The police of Pakistan's Punjab province has officially accepted for the first time presence the Taliban and filed an FIR depicting the grim realities of Talibanisation in the area.

Though the provincial government is in a state of denial, the Punjab Police have officially admitted the presence of the Taliban network in Jhang district and southern Punjab and their fund-raising and recruitment drive in the province.

The Jhang city police have filed an FIR, the first-ever in the Punjab, which is a severe indictment of the provincial government.

The FIR No 320, registered under 11 F/7 Anti-Terrorist Act by the police itself on the basis of their human intelligence, depicts the grim realities of Talibanisation in the Punjab, The News reports.

The criminal report filed against the district head of a defunct organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammad, discloses that Taliban commanders often come to the city on their way to southern Punjab as the network of Tehrik-e-Taliban is fast expanding in the region.

The SHO of the Kotwali Police Station (Jhang city) confirmed the FIR, but was reluctant to go into the details.

The Punjab government has always denied the presence of the Taliban network in the southern belt.

The FIR is registered against Dr. Imran, former head of Jaish-e-Mohammad in district Jhang, who has been accused of recently hosting a prominent Taliban commander carrying head money of Rs 10 million.

According to the police intelligence, Taliban leaders frequent a number of seminaries in Jhang. An under-construction seminary in Jhang district serves as a meeting point of the Taliban leadership. (ANI)