ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) has launched a drive to purge social media platforms of Daesh recruiters, as it was revealed during investigations how the militant network recruits young and impressionable Pakistanis via Facebook and Telegram.
Shaikh Mohammed Imran, a Daesh recruiter who was arrested earlier this month, said he used to lure young people on Facebook before adding them to the group’s Telegram channel.
“Social media has no boundaries, so it is a challenge for us to curb the online activities of Daesh, including recruitment of our youth,” Ihsan Ghani, chief of NACTA, told Arab News in an exclusive interview.
However, he said that numerous measures had been taken in recent years to stop the online activities of the militant outfit, though a lot more was still needed to be done.
“Daesh presence on social media is worrisome for us,” he said. “NACTA, along with other institutions, is doing a lot of work to check the online presence of not only Daesh but also other militant outfits.”
To counter online terrorism and extremism, Pakistan has also blocked at least 10 websites and 1,447 web addresses in the past two years. However, security agencies are still struggling to develop a cogent mechanism to purge social media of the presence of militant groups.
“Modern tools are now used to promote, recruit and train militants besides funds collection and transfers,” says a 37-page report, “Cultivating Peace National Action Plan,” published by NACTA on Dec. 31, 2017.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) earlier this month arrested a militant, Imran alias Saif-ul-Islam Khilafati, from Karachi for operating at least 50 social media accounts to recruit young people for Daesh.
“It is a daunting task for us because the militants neither need an office nor huge resources to operate on social media websites,” Ghani admitted.
“The militants target the youth active on social media to brainwash and recruit them,” he said, adding that it is also the responsibility of society and parents to keep an eye on children who use the Internet and social media platforms.
NACTA has also been compiling data of Pakistanis who joined Daesh in Syria and Iraq in the past couple of years to avoid any backlash in case they returned to their country. Daesh has effectively been defeated in Syria and Iraq, and the outfit is now trying to spread its tentacles in different areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Ghani informed Arab News that a permanent “fusion center” had been established within NACTA where all relevant institutions, including intelligence agencies, gave their regular input about Pakistani members of Daesh.
“A monthly meeting in the fusion center reviews progress of the relevant institutions for tracking down the Daesh-linked militants,” he said. “Our security institutions quickly clamp down on the militants who return from the Middle East.”
However, he denied the claim that thousands of Pakistanis had joined the militant outfit in Syria and Iraq to establish the so-called caliphate in the area.
“There is no evidence of any large-scale movement of Pakistanis to join Daesh in the Middle East,” he said. “But yes, they are in their hundreds and we are keeping an eye on them.”
NACTA and other relevant institutions have gathered data about Pakistanis joining Daesh in Syria and Iraq from airports, land routes via Iran, and border security agencies.
Khawaja Khalid Farooq, former Inspector General of Police and security analyst, told Arab News that Daesh had developed its influence in Balochistan and Sindh provinces, and social media provided the group with an effective tool to recruit people.
“Our youth is most vulnerable to Daesh recruiters and just blocking a few websites or web pages won’t help address the problem,” he said. “There is a need to present counter narratives on social media to educate our youth about the true teachings of Islam.”
He added that Daesh could pose a major security threat to Pakistan if our state institutions failed to counter it immediately.
Ghani, however, denied any organized presence of Daesh in Pakistan and pledged to eliminate its “random rebels.”
“They [Daesh] are not in a position to harm us,” he said. “We have restored peace through multiple security operations and will maintain it.”
Pakistan steps up online war against Daesh
Pakistan steps up online war against Daesh
House votes to slap back Trump’s tariffs on Canada in rare bipartisan rebuke
WASHINGTON: The House voted Wednesday to slap back President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, a rare if largely symbolic rebuke of the White House agenda as Republicans joined Democrats over the objections of GOP leadership.
The tally, 219-211, was among the first times the House, controlled by Republicans, has confronted the president over a signature policy, and drew instant recrimination from Trump himself. The resolution seeks to end the national emergency Trump declared to impose the tariffs, though actually undoing the policy would require support from the president, which is highly unlikely. It next goes to the Senate.
Trump believes in the power of tariffs to force US trade partners to the negotiating table. But lawmakers are facing unrest back home from businesses caught in the trade wars and constituents navigating pocketbook issues and high prices.
“Today’s vote is simple, very simple: Will you vote to lower the cost of living for the American family or will you keep prices high out of loyalty to one person — Donald J. Trump?” said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who authored the resolution.
Within minutes, as the gavel struck, Trump fired off a stern warning to those in the Republican Party who would dare to cross him.
“Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!” the president posted on social media.
The high-stakes moment provides a snapshot of the House’s unease with the president’s direction, especially ahead of the midterm elections as economic issues resonate among voters. The Senate has already voted to reject Trump’s tariffs on Canada and other countries in a show of displeasure. But both chambers would have to approve the tariff rollbacks, and send the resolution to Trump for the president’s signature — or veto.
Six House Republicans voted for the resolution, and one Democrat voted against it.
From Canada, Ontario, Premier Doug Ford on social media called the vote “an important victory with more work ahead.” He thanked lawmakers from both parties “who stood up in support of free trade and economic growth between our two great countries. Let’s end the tariffs and together build a more prosperous and secure future.”
Trump recently threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on goods imported from Canada over that country’s proposed China trade deal, intensifying a feud with the longtime US ally and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
GOP defections forced the vote
House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to prevent this showdown.
Johnson insisted lawmakers wait for a pending Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit about the tariffs. He engineered a complicated rules change to prevent floor action. But Johnson’s strategy collapsed late Tuesday, as Republicans peeled off during a procedural vote to ensure the Democratic measure was able to advance.
“The president’s trade policies have been of great benefit,” Johnson, R-Louisiana, had said. “And I think the sentiment is that we allow a little more runway for this to be worked out between the executive branch and the judicial branch.”
Late Tuesday evening, Johnson could be seen speaking to holdout Republican lawmakers as the GOP leadership team struggled to shore up support during a lengthy procedural vote, but the numbers lined up against him.
“We’re disappointed,” Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday morning. “The president will make sure they don’t repeal his tariffs.”
Terminating Trump’s emergency
The resolution put forward by Meeks would terminate the national emergency that Trump declared a year ago as one of his executive orders.
The administration claimed illicit drug flow from Canada constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat that allows the president to slap tariffs on imported goods outside the terms of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, said the flow of fentanyl into the US is a dire national emergency and the policy must be left in place.
“Let’s be clear again about what this resolution is and what it’s not. It’s not a debate about tariffs. You can talk about those, but that’s not really what it is,” Mast said. “This is Democrats trying to ignore that there is a fentanyl crisis.”
Experts say fentanyl produced by cartels in Mexico is largely smuggled into the US from land crossings in California and Arizona. Fentanyl is also made in Canada and smuggled into the US, but to a much lesser extent.
Torn between Trump and tariffs
Ahead of voting, some rank-and-file Republican lawmakers expressed unease over the choices ahead as Democrats — and a few renegade Republicans — impressed on their colleagues the need to flex their power as the legislative branch rather than ceding so much power to the president to take authority over trade and tariff policy.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, said he was unpersuaded by Johnson’s call to wait until the Supreme Court makes its decision about the legality of Trump’s tariffs. He voted for passage.
“Why doesn’t the Congress stand on its own two feet and say that we’re an independent branch?” Bacon said. “We should defend our authorities. I hope the Supreme Court does, but if we don’t do it, shame on us.”
Bacon, who is retiring rather than facing reelection, also argued that tariffs are bad economic policy.
Other Republicans had to swiftly make up their minds after Johnson’s gambit — which would have paused the calendar days to prevent the measure from coming forward — was turned back.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to have to support our president,” said Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said he doesn’t want to tie the president’s hands on trade and would support the tariffs on Canada “at this time.”
