Banned terror outfits in Pakistan operate on Facebook

Terrorists in Pakistan are just one click away, as forty-one out of 64 banned terror outfits are active on Facebook in the form of groups or individual users and are operating openly through the social networking site.

Pakistan, who is facing global isolation after numerous attacks on Indian forces including Pathankot, the Nawaz Sharif government has asked the military establishment to act against terror outfits operating in the country but they continue to remain active on Facebook.

According to an investigation carried out by Dawn across the month of April 2017, it has been revealed that the outfits' network, both interconnected and public, is a mix of Sunni and Shia sectarian or terror outfits, global terror organisations operating in Pakistan, and separatists in Balochistan and Sindh.

Some techniques were used to identify the terror groups active on Facebook i.e. the name s of all banned outfits including acronyms, variations in spelling was done to search pages on Facebook.

The size of the terror outfit can be judged by the number of pages on social site.

The terror outfit Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) has 200 pages and groups, Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) with 160, Sipah-i-Sahaba (SSP) with 148, Balochistan Students Organisation Azad (BSO-A) with 54 and Sipah-e-Muhammad with 45 pages.

Other banned outfits which exist on Facebook at a smaller scale include Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, Jamat-ul-Ahrar, 313 Brigade, multiple Shia outfits and a host of Baloch separatist organisations.

This shows open support of sectarian and extremist ideology. The profiles have also been publicly 'liked' pages and groups related to weapons use and training.