Pakistan govt bans Pashtun Tahafuz Movement

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government has slapped ban on Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), citing security concerns, ARY News reported on Sunday.

According to a notification issued by Interior Ministry, PTM has been banned as it has become a security threat in Pakistan.

It further said that the PTM is involved in spreading anti-national narratives and anarchy, posing a threat to the country’s peace and security.

The ban is effective immediately.

The movement was founded as Mahsud Tahafuz Movement in May 2014 by eight students in Dera Ismail Khan as an initiative for removing landmines from Waziristan and other parts of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, affected by the war in North-West Pakistan.

The movement rose to prominence in January 2018 when it began a justice movement for Naqeebullah Mehsud, who was extrajudicially killed in a fake encounter staged by the police officer Rao Anwar in Karachi.