THE tactics employed by the state to neutralise the capacity of Pakistan-based militant groups to wreak mayhem are becoming more finely tuned and comprehensive.

It has emerged that the FBR has established a Financial Action Task Force cell to ensure that terrorism-related financial flows through currency smuggling are disrupted and regulations to prevent the practice correctly applied.

The cell will serve as the focal point for activities related to customs’ compliance with the FATF regulations, on which depends Pakistan’s removal from the FATF grey list.

The development follows on the heels of the July 17 arrest of Jamaatud Dawa chief, Hafiz Saeed, in connection with a terror-financing case.

He was one of 13 top JuD leaders booked some days earlier by CTD Punjab in several money-laundering and terror-financing cases.

According to the law-enforcement agency, JuD was receiving huge amounts of funds from around 10 non-profits and trusts that were banned in April.

Militancy in Pakistan has long exploited public sentiments to ensure a steady stream of financing, which extremist groups then put to use within the country or send abroad — often through opaque ‘hawala’ transactions.

That this ploy has worked so well, in fact has become an albatross around our neck, speaks to society’s rightward drift. While some faith-based charity organisations may be indeed engaged in welfare activities, albeit with a religio-political agenda, others have sinister objectives. Many jihadi groups such as JuD and Jaish-e-Mohammad — the main targets of the recent countrywide crackdown against militant outfits — have welfare wings to raise funds, help expand their support base and multiply their financial resources. The guise of charity is particularly expedient when the parent organisations are banned.

After the inconsistent, somewhat floundering attempts in previous years to tackle militancy, the government seems to have arrived at a well-thought-out and integrated strategy.

In March, provincial administrations in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan sealed or took control of hundreds of madressahs, schools, mosques, etc run by these groups.

Concurrently, along with the strike against jihadi infrastructure, the state is putting its weight behind choking off all supply lines for terror financing and closing the loopholes that resourceful militants can take advantage of.

An important corollary to the FATF cell’s work is effective investigation and prosecution of those found guilty of funding terrorism.

Nacta has conducted some capacity-building workshops for relevant personnel from federal and provincial law-enforcement authorities; hopefully, more such training is on the anvil.

According to Prime Minister Imran Khan while on his recent visit to the US, there remain thousands of militants in Pakistan who continue to pose a threat to the country.

Certainly, the magnitude of the challenge cannot be understated.

History has time and again illustrated the tenacity of violent extremists and their ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

The state must stay several steps ahead of them.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2019