LOOKEAST EXCLUSIVE
An organisation linked to Maulana Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM) a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation has been soliciting donations to help Rohingya refugees according to a reputable source in the region who wishes to remain anonymous.
The organisation, the Al Rehmat Trust, headed by Azhar, is purportedly a charitable organisation but is a front for the JeM.
JeM head Masood Azhar
According to the US Treasury, Al Rehmat Trust has provided support for militant activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including financial and logistical support to foreign fighters operating in both countries.
dreaded Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba has been operating through its humanitarian front, the Fala-e-Insaniyat, especially in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border region
The Al Rehmat Trust has also been involved in fundraising for JeM, including for militant training and indoctrination at its mosques and madrassas. As of early 2009, Al Rehmat Trust had initiated a donation program in Pakistan to help support families of militants who had been arrested or killed. Moreover, in early 2007, Al Rehmat Trust was raising funds on behalf of Khudam-ul Islam, an alias for JeM. Al Rehmat Trust has also provided financial support and other services to the Taliban, including financial support to wounded Talib fighters from Afghanistan.
It remains unclear how donations solicited by the Trust will be used.
Myanmar security officials with flag-draped coffins bearing nine bodies of border guards killed in raids in Maungdaw, Rakhine State on October 9, 2016. © AFP
LOOKEAST has obtained a copy of the Al Rehmat Trust advertisement for collecting the donations.
Earlier, it was reported that the dreaded Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba has been operating through its humanitarian front, the Fala-e-Insaniyat, especially in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border region.
According to the US Treasury, Al Rehmat Trust has provided support for militant activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including financial and logistical support to foreign fighters operating in both countries
They used the front, supposedly doing relief for internally displaced in the 2012 Rakhine riots, to spot and recruit young Rohingyas for training in armed combat.
JeM is a Pakistan-based terrorist group designated in October 2001 by the United States pursuant to E.O. 13224 and by the UN 1267 Committee, and also designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department in 2001. After it was banned in Pakistan in 2002, JeM began using Al Rehmat Trust as a front for its operations. Al Rehmat Trust has provided support for militant activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including financial and logistical support to foreign fighters operating in both countries. In early 2009, several prominent members of Al Rehmat Trust were recruiting students for terrorist activities in Afghanistan. ■
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