Pakistan remains the breeding ground and hub for global terrorists like the Afghan Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba (LeT). Pakistan has been accused of being a grave threat to humanity, according to a study by Oxford University and Strategic Foresight Group (SFG).
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As per the report, while the Afghan Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba (LeT) pose the biggest threat to the international security in future, Pakistan has topped the notorious list of nations with the highest number of terrorist safe havens.
“If we look at the most dangerous terror groups, we find that Pakistan hosts or supports a majority of them. Also, there are a significant number of groups based in Afghanistan, which operate from and with the assistance of Pakistan,” the report says.
“The rise of extremism of all forms, misuse of weapons of mass destruction and economic disturbances can threaten human progress or even survival in the period from now until 2030. They are all interlinked with terrorism”, the report explains.
Strategic Foresight Group had analysed almost 200 groups actively connected in perpetrating acts of terror. As per the research, the groups are driven by their own interpretation of Jihadi ideology which accounted for only a fourth of almost 200 groups around the world.
Among these groups, ISIS has attracted much of media space in the last five years. But with swift rise and fall of ISIS, the Al-Qaida remains the most robust network. Until 2011, it was led by Osama bin Laden but now his son, Hamza bin Osama bin Laden has surfaced, as what sections of the media describe, as the “new crown prince of terror”.
“The birth of Al-Qaida was in Pakistan and then Pakistan influenced Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden had a safe haven in a huge compound near the Pakistani military establishment in Abbottabad. The compound was much larger than the surrounding houses of retired Pakistani military officers. The occupants of the compound often bought expensive goods from a neighbourhood shop that most people in the vicinity could not afford. The presence of an important family in the compound was nothing but conspicuous,” the report reveals.
In Pakistan, the terror groups are based in FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Quetta and Kalat (Balochistan), Punjab and Sindh. These terror groups are enjoying the patronage of the Pakistan Army and thus can easily plan and plot major attacks and raise funds for their activities.
Afghanistan’s deputy Defence Minister, Hilaluddin Helal recently stated that there are more than 50,000 militants from 21 terrorist organisations are currently operating in Afghanistan and 70 % are from Pakistan.
