ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ministry of interior said on Friday the government of Punjab province had taken control of a seminary and a mosque in Bahawalpur believed to be the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group.
Last week, the group took responsibility for an attack on an Indian convoy in the disputed Kashmir region in which at least 40 troopers were killed. Jaish was blacklisted by the United Nations in 2001, which tied it to al Qaeda, and accused it of participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of al Qaeda acts.
The Government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur: Spokesman of the Ministry of Interior
— Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) February 22, 2019
"The Government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, reportedly the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs," the ministry of interior spokesman said in a statement.
The statement said action was taken as per the decision of the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday.
“The campus has a faculty of 70 teachers and currently 600 students were studying in it. Punjab police is providing security and protection to the campus,” the statement read.
Tensions between nuclear-armed arch-rivals Pakistan and India have sharply escalated since the February 14 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi says Islamabad is not doing enough to stop militant groups using its territory to launch attacks on India. Pakistan denies any complicity.
