Changing the organisation’s name, or creating new offshoots, to try and avoid sanctions is a long followed practice of terror outfits operating out of Pakistan. Now, Jaish-e-Mohammed, one of the Islamic terror outfits targeted during Operation Sindoor, has also done the same.
As per an NDTV report, the terror outfit will now be known as Al-Murabitun within Pakistan. Al-Murabitun means ‘defenders of Islam’ in Arabic. The change in name is to ensure that dreaded terrorist Masood Azhar-led outfit can continue to access funding. Currently, due to being banned and crippled with sanctions, they haven’t been able to get regular funding for their terror acts.
To comply with Financial Action Task Force regulations, Pakistan was forced to restrict funding for Jaish-e-Mohammed to try and stay out of the grey list. The group is now using digital payments to receive money to fund its activities. These digital wallets help Pakistan comply with FATF regulations, while still ensuring that Jaish stays afloat.
Notably, Jaish-e-Mohammed is also relocating its centers in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province.
This decision was taken after India launched targeted strikes on Jaish’s terror camps during Operation Sindoor. Along with its main center located in Bahawalpur in Punjab, its bases in PoK were also destroyed by the Indian forces.
The relocation is being done to try and avoid direct strikes by India in future. Since PoK is now being considered especially vulnerable to action by India, they are now looking to move to relatively safer havens near Afghan border. The hideouts developed during the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s are also likely to be used by the Islamic terrorists.
