RAWALPINDI: Intelligence agencies have warned the Punjab government that a group of activists from the Islamic State (IS) militant group, also known commonly by its Arabic acronym ‘Daish’, are currently in Pakistan.

According to a document, marked ‘secret’ and bearing the subject, ‘threat alert’, which was submitted to the Punjab government, certain Daish leaders from the Middle East are said to be travelling between Lahore, Multan and Rahimyar Khan. According to the document, intelligence agencies believe that they are being supported by members of Jundullah, a terrorist outfit that has already pledged allegiance to IS leader, Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi.

The document, which was sent to Regional Police Officer Rawalpindi Akhtar Umar Hayat Laleka and other senior police officers across the province, names Zubair Al-Kuwaiti – who is believed to be from the Middle East – and warns local law enforcement to beef up vigilance at entry/exit points to try and capture the men before they have a chance to activate their network inside Pakistan.

The document warns that Daish may be looking to enlist support from jihadi outfits and militant groups within the country. It says that Jundullah and a few Punjabi terrorist groups have printed literature, to promote the message of Daish and suggest that the same groups may be behind pro-IS wall-chalking that is surfacing in several urban centres lately.

A security expert told Dawn that while there were reports of banned outfits leaning in the direction of IS, “these groups are not influential affective in Pakistan yet.”

“No evidence has yet been found that could suggest the presence of such elements in Rawalpindi area, nor has anyone been detained by police for links with such organisations,” a senior police officer told Dawn.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2014