KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain warned on Friday that the Islamic State (IS) group, formerly called Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham, had become a new threat to Pakistan because Taliban were fast joining it.

Addressing a press conference over phone from London, he said Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi had united different militant groups and formed the IS which was expanding beyond Iraq and Syria and now reaching Pakistan.

He said the IS was more dangerous than Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Mr Hussain said he was the first person to have warned the nation of “Talibanisation of Karachi” and their safe havens in the city, but no-one paid any heed to it.

“Today, I am informing the nation about the threat of IS and if no measure is taken against this threat the country will face a serious threat,” he warned.

He said the IS was increasing its activities in the country and, according to reports, the Taliban who had been divided into several groups were joining it.

In Punjab, the MQM chief said, black flags of the IS could be seen from Attock to other places up to Islamabad. IS graffiti has emerged in several areas of Karachi.

“The people of Pakistan will forget the massacre of hundreds of thousands of people by African tribes in Rwanda if the government and security forces do not act against the extremist IS group,” he warned.

He said the army was fighting a historic war against militants and it was the only institution in the country which always helped people in the events of calamities, flood and earthquake.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2014