‘Pakistan’s terror hotspots grow but FATF scrutiny is avoided’

New Delhi: A new inquiry has brought to light a complex terror financing network that reveals a risky flaw in Pakistan’s counter-terror apparatus.

Contrary to commitments made to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the listed organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), under the leadership of Masood Azhar, has surreptitiously established a parallel fundraising system that operates outside of international scrutiny. At the centre of this shadow system is an online campaign of PKR 3.91 billion (Rs 391 crore), channelled not through traditional banks but through Pakistan’s growing digital wallet infrastructure.

According to top-level sources, the campaign is centred on JeM’s aggressive strategy to set up 313 markaz in Pakistan—buildings portrayed as religious centres but in real life as training camps, militant residential complexes, and heavily fortified safe houses for top commanders. Posters, videos, and even letters purportedly written by Masood Azhar have been shared on Facebook, WhatsApp groups, and proxy pages, urging “supporters of jihad” to donate.

Every markaz, JeM asserts, would be PKR 12.5 million, a figure multiplied by 313 centres results in the whopping goal of PKR 3.91 billion. The amount is large enough to rebuild terror infrastructure lost in recent Indian raids, as well as to ensure JeM’s weapon financing for many years to come.

What renders the operation so hard to pin down is the financial channel it uses. Researchers have discovered that the group has shifted away from monitored bank accounts to digital wallets run through EasyPaisa and SadaPay. One SadaPay account is directly associated with Azhar’s brother, Talha Al Saif, through a series of numbers registered in the name of JeM’s Haripur commander, Aftab Ahmad. Another, run through EasyPaisa, is controlled by Azhar’s son, Abdullah. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Commander Syed Safdar Shah has also sought donations through wallets associated with his CNIC, whose addresses go back to JeM’s camps in Mansehra.

According to the probe, more than 250 wallets are active, with JeM using a systematic laundering system. The funds are initially aggregated in central accounts, which are then segregated into small transfers distributed over a network of 10–15 new wallets. These funds are withdrawn as cash via local hawaladars or recycled via further digital transactions. Intelligence believes the group opens at least 30 new wallets monthly, thereby making it difficult for the authorities to create a traceable track.

The fundraising campaign has been paired with a propaganda blitz. On JeM’s official platform, MSTD Official, a recent audio message of Talha Al Saif was distributed. Speaking to his followers at Markaz Usman-o-Ali, he asked for contributions of PKR 21,000 per individual and declared the establishment of 20 new markaz this year. While presented as a godly religious effort, the harsh reality of these centres is quite different. Markaz Subhanallah, which was destroyed in the recent Operation Sindoor by India on May 7, had been JeM’s headquarters and training centre, featuring weapons handling courses and indoctrination programmes. Fourteen workers, including Azhar’s nephew and top recruitment officials, were killed in the attack.

Prosecutors suspect JeM’s cost estimates for each markaz are inflated deliberately. While posters quote PKR 12.5 million as standard, minor centres need only PKR 4–5 million to build.