650 Pakistanis fighting with militant groups abroad

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan's intelligence service has identified 650 militants fighting abroad with various militant groups, including Syria and Iraq-based Daesh and the Afghan Taliban, as a potential future domestic threat.

Local English newspaper Dawn reported Wednesday that a recent intelligence report sent to the government found there were both Sunni and Shia militants fighting for rival groups in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq and central Asian states.

A senior intelligence official, who could not be named because of clearance issues, said a number of Sunni militants who previously belonged to prominent Pakistani groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, were now with the Afghan Taliban, Daesh in Iraq and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

On the other hand, Shia fighters were supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, the Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Hashd al-Shaabi militias in Iraq that support government efforts in pushing back Daesh.

Pakistan’s National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC), a government agency for coordinating counter-terrorism agencies, has requested security agencies monitor families of militants abroad and tighten border controls to stop them returning, according to Dawn.

They are concerned that when defeated abroad, Pakistani militants will return home and potentially fuel an increase in Sunni-Shia sectarian violence.

A Sunni-majority country, Pakistan has a long history of such violence that has killed thousands in retaliatory attacks and disproportionately affected Pakistan's Shia minority, who make up 10 percent of the population.

– Exaggerated threat

Islamabad-based security analyst Brigadier Mahmood Shah played down the warnings, saying it would be hard for returning militants to find the right conditions to return to Pakistan.

“I think this is a little exaggerated. Pakistani forces are already engaged in fighting thousands of militants across the country. What more will these 600 militants add to the current situation?” Shah told Anadolu Agency.

"They are fighting in those parts of the world where governments are virtually non-existent. Whereas, in Pakistan, the security forces have by and large established their writ, especially in tribal areas and along the border with Afghanistan,” said Shah, who served as an administrator in Pakistan’s restive northwestern tribal belt from 2003 to 2005. “Even if they managed to trickle in, it will not be easy for them to find safe havens here or to add to sectarian strife."