New Delhi: Three months after Operation Sindoor destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM’s) headquarters Markaz Subhanallah, along with four other training camps – Markaz Bilal, Markaz Abbas, Mahmona Joya, and the Sargal training camp – Pakistan is desperately turning no stone unturned to rebuild these terror infrastructures and is asking donations from the common people.
Top sources aware of the developments told IANS has launched an online fundraising campaign through EasyPaisa to collect.
“JeM has launched an online fundraising campaign through EasyPaisa to collect Rs 3.91 billion for constructing 313 new markaz across Pakistan,” the source said.
Notably, Pakistan was removed from the FATF’s grey list in 2019. The Pakistani government implemented the National Action Plan. Under the plan, Pakistan presented to FATF that it had curbed JeM by taking its markaz under government control, placing JeM chief Masood Azhar, his brother Rauf Asghar, and his youngest brother Talha Al Saif’s bank accounts under official watch.
It also banned cash transactions, animal hide donations, and other forms of fundraising. The result of it was that Pakistan was formally removed from FATF’s Grey List in 2022.
Following this, in order to collect donations, ISI and JeM coordinated a new mechanism. JeM began collecting funds and conducting transactions through Pakistani digital wallets “EasyPaisa” and “SadaPay.”
According to a report accessed by IANS, instead of donations going into bank accounts now, the money is being transferred to the digital wallets used by Masood Azhar’s family members.
This way, Pakistan could falsely claim to the FATF by showing only the bank account details of JeM’s funding. On social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp channels, JeM-linked proxy accounts and accounts used by JeM commanders have posted posters, videos, and a letter from Masood Azhar, urging that JeM is building 313 markaz and that each will require PKR 12.5 million (PKR 1crore 25 lakh).
Supporters in Pakistan and abroad are urged to send their share of the donation totalling PKR 3.91 billion (PKR 391 crore).
“During the investigation, we also received a copy of the blank donation receipt for JeM’s mega-fundraising campaign. The investigation revealed proof that the PKR 3.94 billion being collected is going into several Pakistani digital wallets,” sources said.
One such SadaPay account is in the name of Masood Azhar’s brother, Talha Al Saif (Talha Gulzar), linked to Pakistani mobile number +92 3025xxxx56. This number is registered to JeM Haripur district commander Aftab Ahmad, whose CNIC number 133020376995 lists the address of JeM’s camp in Khala Batt Township, Haripur.
Another fundraising channel operates via an EasyPaisa wallet linked to mobile number +92 33xxxx4937, run by Masood Azhar’s son Abdullah Azhar (Abdullah Khan). In Pakistan’s restive region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, JeM commander Syed Safdar Shah is collecting donations for the organisation’s markaz via an EasyPaisa wallet linked to +92 344147xxxx and CNIC 4250142079691, registered near Melwarah Post Office, Oghi, Mansehra district.
In addition to these three accounts, over 250 EasyPaisa wallets are reportedly being used to raise funds for JeM’s PKR 3.91 billion fundraising campaign. Alongside social media appeals, JeM circulated an audio recording of Masood Azhar’s brother, Talha Al Saif, via its official propaganda channel, MSTD Official.
In the recording, Talha urges supporters to contribute PKR 21,000 per person. The speech was delivered at a gathering at Markaz Usman-o-Ali on Friday, 15 August. In the audio, Talha also instructed the establishment of 20 new markaz this year, as part of JeM’s overall target of 313 centres, according to JeM’s organisational posters and videos.
The Markaz Subhanallah targeted by India on 7 May was not only JeM’s HQ but also a training ground for weapons handling and a residential hub. In the strike, 14 people were killed, including Masood Azhar’s brother-in-law Jameel Ahmad, his nephew Hamza Jameel, Abdul Rauf’s son Huzaifa Asghar (JeM’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recruitment head), and other terrorists.
Just 6 km from Markaz Subhanallah lies Markaz Usman-o-Ali, where Masood Azhar’s family has been residing since the strike.
On 13 May, a Senator from Bahawalpur met the injured family members of Masood Azhar. Later on, on 21 May, Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives visited the same markaz and met the family members of Masood Azhar.
JeM’s senior commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, wanted in India, is currently residing in Markaz Tamim Dari in Dar Samand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
JeM currently operates over 2,000 Pakistani digital wallets on EasyPaisa and SadaPay, not only collecting markaz donations but also funds under the pretext of aiding Gaza.
One such Gaza-linked wallet is tied to the number +92xxxx195206, registered to Khalid Ahmad, but operated by Masood Azhar’s son Hammad Azhar.
“EasyPaisa and SadaPay function outside the banking network and allow wallet-to-wallet and wallet-to-cash transfers via agents, making FATF monitoring nearly impossible, and FATF can only track transactions through SWIFT or bank networks,” the report said.
JeM raises over PKR100 crore annually through digital wallets, bank transfers, and cash. About 50 per cent is spent on arms. While JeM claims each Markaz will cost PKR 12.5 million, estimates suggest a Markaz Bilal-sized facility costs only PKR 4–5 million.
“Given JeM’s, Hamas and TTP connections and leadership meetings, that the surplus could be used to acquire advanced weaponry and maybe attack drones like Hamas or quadcopters used by TTP,” the report said.
(IANS)
