ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said Wednesday that the government will ensure a ban on all proscribed organisations mentioned in the blacklist of the United Nations within the next few days.

“There is some confusion regarding the list of banned outfits but I want to make it clear that the government will ban all proscribed organisations mentioned in the blacklist of the United Nations, as Pakistan is a signatory of the UN,” said the minister, while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly today.

Nisar underscored that the government would not ban an organisation under pressure from any country, including the United States and India. He, however, said Pakistan would fulfil its obligation as a signatory of the United Nations, adding that such a step would be in the country's favour.

“According to the procedure, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes to the Ministry of Interior to put a ban on an organisation after the UN announcement to include such proscribed organisations in the blacklist,” the minister added.

A day before, the interior minister had directed Secretary Interior Shahid Khan to coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reconcile a ‘national list’ of proscribed organisations as per the blacklist of the United Nations.

The minister also said Pakistan is facing terrorism for the last 13 years, adding that it was the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) government which had taken steps to initiate dialogue with militants fighting against the state.

Khan said that the government had launched an operation against militants on June 16 with the backing of all political parties present in the Parliament.

Nisar also said that military courts were set up by the government after support of all parliamentary parties at the All Parties Conference in the wake of the Peshawar school attack. He clarified that only those who had taken up arms against the state are being hanged.

The minister said the government had succeeded in verifying 30 million Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) and was in the process of verifying yet another 100 million SIMs. He added that SIM verification would be helpful in countering terrorism.