Hafiz Saeed asks govt to curb foreign bid to bolster IS in Pak

Lahore, Oct 17: Efforts are underway to strengthen the Islamic State in Pakistan, JuD chief Hafiz Saeed has said as he asked the Nawaz Sharif government to foil the bid by the "foreign elements".

"The foreign elements are hatching a conspiracy to strengthen Daesh in Pakistan. The government will have to be vigilant and foil any such effort to begin with," Saeed said while addressing the Friday sermon at JuD headquarters in Chauburji and using one of the alternate names for the ISIS.

Recently, the government of Sindh province has confirmed the presence of Daesh in the country and prepared a list of 53 of its activists in Pakistan, according to a senior official at the Counter Terrorism Department Sindh.

Abdullah Yousuf alias Abdul Aziz, is believed to be the chief of Daesh in Pakistan, the official said. In May, the ISIS was involved in an attack on a bus carrying Shia Ismaili Muslims on the outskirts of Karachi in which 45 people were killed.

Saeed further said: "Efforts are also underway to spread this evil in Saudi Arabia. The Muslim world will have to stay united to face this evil and nip it in the bud."

"At present, we are at war and we need to maintain unity in our ranks," he said. He also urged the Shia and Sunni sects to shun their differences and live in peace. Saeed warned the government over taking action against seminaries at the behest of the West.

"We will not accept any action against certain seminaries in the name of war on terror," he said.

PTI