Pakistan sanctions Taliban to avoid global finance blacklist

Pakistan issued sweeping financial sanctions against Afghanistans Taliban just as the militant group is in the midst of USled peace process in the neighbouring country The orders which were made public late on Friday identified dozens of individuals including the Talibans chief peace negotiator Abdul Ghani Baradar and several members of the Haqqani family including Sirajuddin the current head of the Haqqani network and deputy head of the TalibanThe list of sanctioned groups included others in addition to the Taliban and were in keeping with a fiveyearold United Nations resolution sanctioning the Afghan group and freezing their assetsPakistan orders full compliance with UN sanctions against Afghan Taliban httpstco71DR26tm13 AFG pictwittercomLl9T6hgBdCmdash 1TVNewsAF 1TVNewsAF August 22 2020The orders were issued as part of Pakistans efforts to avoid being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force FATF which monitors money laundering and tracks terrorist groups activities according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the mediaLast year the Parisbased group put Islamabad on a grey list Until now only Iran and North Korea are blacklisted which severely restricts a countrys international borrowing capabilities Pakistan is trying to get off the grey list said the officials There was no immediate response from the Taliban but many of the groups leaders are known to own businesses and property in PakistanPakistan takes steps to conform to UN sanctions against Afghan TalibanAfghanPeaceProcess Afghanistan Taliban Pakistan httpstcoHKDjSSiKzE pictwittercomBOHCV6GF8Lmdash Ariana News ArianaNews_ August 22 2020Many of Taliban leaders including those heading the muchfeared Haqqani network have lived in Pakistan since the 1980s when they were part of the Afghan mujahedeen and allies of the United States to end the 10year invasion of Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union It ended in February 1989Pakistan has denied giving sanctuary to the Taliban following their ouster in 2001 by the USled coalition but both Washington and Kabul routinely accused Islamabad of giving them a safe havenStill it was Pakistans relationship with the Taliban that Washington eventually sought to exploit to move its peace negotiations with the insurgent movement forward America signed a peace deal with the Taliban on February 29 The deal is intended to end Washingtons nearly 20 years of military engagement in Afghanistan and has been touted as Afghanistans best hope for a peace after more than four decades of warOur maximum pressure campaign on the Iranian regime continues Today we designated two entities and one individual for providing material support to Mahan Air If you do business with a designated global terrorist entity you run the risk of being sanctionedmdash Secretary Pompeo SecPompeo August 19 2020But even as Washington has already begun withdrawing its soldiers efforts to get talks started between Kabuls political leadership and the Taliban have been stymied by delays in a prisoner release programmeThe two sides are to release prisoners __ 5000 by the government and 1000 by the Taliban __ as a good will gesture ahead of talks Both sides blame the other for the delaysThe timing of Pakistans decision to issue the orders implementing the restrictive sanctions could also be seen as a move to pressure the Taliban into a quick start to the intraAfghan negotiationsKabul has defied a traditional jirga or councils order to release the last Taliban it is holding saying it wants 22 Afghan commandos being held by the Taliban freed first As well as the Taliban the orders also target alQaida and the Islamic State affiliate which has carried out deadly attacks in both Pakistan and AfghanistanThey also take aim at outlawed Pakistani groups like TehreekeTaliban Pakistan TTP thousands of whom are believed by the UN to be hiding in remote regions of AfghanistanThe TTP has declared war on Pakistan carrying out one of the worst terrorist attacks in the country in 2014 killing 145 children and their teachers at an army public school in northwest PakistanThe orders also take aim at outlawed antiIndian groups considered allied with the countrys security servicesCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever