India welcomes grey-listing of Pakistan FATF
New Delhi, June 30 : India on Saturday welcomed Pakistan being put on the "grey list" by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body which combats money laundering and terror financing among other things, for failing to curb terror financing on its soil.
"India welcomes the decision of the Financial Action Task Force to place Pakistan in its Compliance Document (Grey list) for ICRG (International Cooperation Review Group) monitoring," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to queries.
"Pakistan has given a high level political commitment to address the global concerns regarding its implementation of the FATF standards for countering terror financing and anti-money laundering, especially in respect of UN designated and internationally proscribed terror entities and individuals," Kumar said.
"The freedom and impunity with which the designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and entities like Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed continue to operate in Pakistan is not in keeping with such commitments."
The FATF announcement came on Wednesday at its plenary session in Paris after Islamabad submitted a detailed 26-point action plan to the body to choke funding of militant groups, including Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led JuD and its affiliates
The decision to put Pakistan in the "grey list" was taken in February but then the country was given relief till June to combat the issue.
Pakistan was also included in the list from 2012 to 2015.
Islamabad claims that in compliance with FATF's recommendations, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan issued the Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Regulations on June 20.
Islamabad has been scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to the list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations by FATF, a measure that officials in Pakistan fear could hurt its economy, which is already under strain.
In his statement on Saturday, Kumar said that India hopes that "the FATF action plan shall be complied with in a time bound manner and credible measures would be taken by Pakistan to address global concerns related to terrorism emanating from any territory under its control".
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
