Probe uncovers alleged terror facilitation network through 'illegal seminaries'

ISLAMABAD: Investigators probing a suspected terrorist facilitation network have uncovered alleged links between illegal seminaries, extortion and the misuse of religious decrees to justify militant activities, authorities said on Wednesday.

According to officials, the investigation revealed that local facilitators used unregistered seminaries to obtain religious rulings that were allegedly exploited to legitimise acts of terrorism under the guise of religion.

Authorities said the arrested suspect, self-styled cleric Mufti Zafar Yab, was affiliated with Jamia Nizamul Uloom in Bannu and a faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI).

Investigators said the suspect disclosed that he had completed the eight-year Dars-e-Nizami programme at the Yateem Khana branch of Jamia Nizamul Uloom before obtaining a three-year specialisation in Islamic jurisprudence (Takhassus fi al-Fiqh) from Markaz Islami Ghoriwala.

According to the authorities, the suspect also admitted to maintaining links with terrorist commander Hikmat Roshan and being associated with the Gul Bahadur Shura. Investigators alleged that militant commanders sought religious rulings from him to justify extortion and intimidate affluent individuals in the name of jihad.

The authorities further claimed that the suspect disclosed he had been offered financial incentives and positions by Roshan in return for supporting the group's activities.

Officials said the suspect also stated that the group referred to by the state as Fitna al-Khawarij had no connection with Islam and followed an ideology that sanctioned the killing of Muslims. The term Fitna al-Khawarij is used by the Pakistani state to describe militants affiliated with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Security and religious affairs experts cited by the authorities said the investigation highlighted how militant groups allegedly exploited illegal seminaries and self-styled clerics to further extremist objectives.

They noted that an agreement reached in 2019 between Wifaqul Madaris Al-Arabia Pakistan and the representative bodies of religious seminaries under Ittehad Tanzimat-e-Madaris provides a framework for the registration and regulation of seminaries.

The experts stressed that the latest findings underscored the need to bring all unregistered seminaries under the Directorate General of Religious Education (DGRE) in line with the National Action Plan, while calling for greater transparency, curriculum standardisation and stronger oversight to prevent the misuse of religious institutions for extremist purposes.