ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) haslaunched a drive to purge social media platforms of Daesh recruiters, as itwas revealed during investigations how the militant network recruits youngand impressionable Pakistanis via Facebook and Telegram.Shaikh Mohammed Imran, a Daesh recruiter who was arrested earlier thismonth, said he used to lure young people on Facebook before adding them tothe group’s Telegram channel.“Social media has no boundaries, so it is a challenge for us to curb theonline activities of Daesh, including recruitment of our youth,” IhsanGhani, chief of NACTA, told Arab News in an exclusive interview.However, he said that numerous measures had been taken in recent years tostop the online activities of the militant outfit, though a lot more wasstill needed to be done.“Daesh presence on social media is worrisome for us,” he said. “NACTA,along with other institutions, is doing a lot of work to check the onlinepresence of not only Daesh but also other militant outfits.”To counter online terrorism and extremism, Pakistan has also blocked atleast 10 websites and 1,447 web addresses in the past two years. However,security agencies are still struggling to develop a cogent mechanism topurge social media of the presence of militant groups.“Modern tools are now used to promote, recruit and train militants besidesfunds collection and transfers,” says a 37-page report, “Cultivating PeaceNational Action Plan,” published by NACTA on Dec. 31, 2017.Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) earlier this month arrested amilitant, Imran alias Saif-ul-Islam Khilafati, from Karachi for operatingat least 50 social media accounts to recruit young people for Daesh.“It is a daunting task for us because the militants neither need an officenor huge resources to operate on social media websites,” Ghani admitted.“The militants target the youth active on social media to brainwash andrecruit them,” he said, adding that it is also the responsibility ofsociety and parents to keep an eye on children who use the Internet andsocial media platforms.NACTA has also been compiling data of Pakistanis who joined Daesh in Syriaand Iraq in the past couple of years to avoid any backlash in case theyreturned to their country. Daesh has effectively been defeated in Syria andIraq, and the outfit is now trying to spread its tentacles in differentareas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.Ghani informed Arab News that a permanent “fusion center” had beenestablished within NACTA where all relevant institutions, includingintelligence agencies, gave their regular input about Pakistani members ofDaesh.“A monthly meeting in the fusion center reviews progress of the relevantinstitutions for tracking down the Daesh-linked militants,” he said. “Oursecurity institutions quickly clamp down on the militants who return fromthe Middle East.”However, he denied the claim that thousands of Pakistanis had joined themilitant outfit in Syria and Iraq to establish the so-called caliphate inthe area.“There is no evidence of any large-scale movement of Pakistanis to joinDaesh in the Middle East,” he said. “But yes, they are in their hundredsand we are keeping an eye on them.”NACTA and other relevant institutions have gathered data about Pakistanisjoining Daesh in Syria and Iraq from airports, land routes via Iran, andborder security agencies.Khawaja Khalid Farooq, former Inspector General of Police and securityanalyst, told Arab News that Daesh had developed its influence inBalochistan and Sindh provinces, and social media provided the group withan effective tool to recruit people.“Our youth is most vulnerable to Daesh recruiters and just blocking a fewwebsites or web pages won’t help address the problem,” he said. “There is aneed to present counter narratives on social media to educate our youthabout the true teachings of Islam.”He added that Daesh could pose a major security threat to Pakistan if ourstate institutions failed to counter it immediately.Ghani, however, denied any organized presence of Daesh in Pakistan andpledged to eliminate its “random rebels.”“They [Daesh] are not in a position to harm us,” he said. “We have restoredpeace through multiple security operations and will maintain it.” – ArabNews
Pakistan Security Agencies launch drive against online terrorism war