Pakistan on Monday endorsed the United Nations' list of banned terrorist organisations by extending the ban on the said outfits in Pakistan as well, DawnNews reported.
The country-wide ban was imposed after President Mamnoon Hussain amended the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 and issued the amended Anti-Terrorism Ordinance 2018.
Following an amendment in Section 11-B and 11-EE of the ATA, the organisations and personnel banned through the UN's Security Council's resolution will stand banned in Pakistan too.
The development spells bad news for entities such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamat-ud-Dawa, Harkat-ul Mujahideen, which are among the 27 banned outfits on the aforesaid UN list.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan had already banned the UN-identified organisations and personnel from collecting donations in the country.
The amended ATA ordinance, which goes into effect immediately, will see the assets of the banned organisations frozen.
The move comes just days before a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting is to take place in Paris. It was feared that FATF, under pressure from the US and India, would place Pakistan on its grey list, which in turn could raise the cost of doing international financial transactions for Pakistan.
