Islamabad – Pakistan has begun a heavy crackdown against militants on Thursday, with the government announcing that they have taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as part of its push against banned groups.
Pakistan’s interior ministry said it was part of a long-planned drive, not a response to Indian anger over what New Delhi calls Islamabad’s failure to rein in militant groups operating on Pakistani soil.
Several banned groups such as JeM run seminaries. Another banned outfit, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which runs behind the face of Islamic charities and welfare operations, is estimated to run about 300 Madrassas across the country.
Pakistan is facing pressure from global powers to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the 14 February attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police.
Provincial governments have “taken in their control management and administration of 182 seminaries”, Pakistan’s interior ministry said in a statement, referring to religious schools.
“Law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today,” the ministry added.
