Internews
Though the authorities have played down the reports about the existence of the Islamic State (IS) militants in Pakistan, the fresh graffiti in favour of the group in many cities have already worried the people.
The wall-chalking was witnessed in all four provinces of the country. Recently graffiti in favour of the IS was seen in Hashtnagri locality in Peshawar also, but it was immediately whitewashed by the police.
However, it was seen on the wall of a local public sector school the very next day. Capital City Police Officer Ijaz Ahmad said when contacted that the IS was a real threat, but this was mere wall-chalking.
“So far, we have no information about the existence of the IS in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” added the chief of the police force of the city that suffered the most due to militancy in the last one decade.
Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and military authorities have already denied the existence of the IS in the country.
Army chief General Raheel Sharif during his visit to the US assured the world that no alliance of any local group from Pakistan with the IS would be tolerated. But the wall-chalking in support of the IS has already caused concern among the general public.
Also, the announcement by Shahidullah Shahid, the former spokesman of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to join the IS along with five other commanders has shown that the group might get support from the local militants.
Police in Lahore had lodged a case against those who had done wall-chalking for the IS. In Karachi, the wall-chalking in favour of the IS was witnessed in the limits of two different police stations.
In KP, the graffiti was witnessed first in Bannu and then in Peshawar. The police immediately whitewashed the wall in Sikandarpura locality that read, “We are all ISIS” and was written last week.
“However, another slogan appeared a couple of days later in the same locality,” said an official. Unlike Lahore, no action has been taken against those involved in the wall-chalking in favour of the richest international militant group in the world.
A source said that the Special Branch Police and other agencies have been directed to submit a detailed report about the wall-chalking and any existence of the group in the province. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nasir Khan Durrani recently said the same militants in different areas of the country changed name with the passage of time to come into limelight.
Apart from the ongoing military operations, Zarb-e-Azb and Khyber-1 in the tribal areas, actions has been taken against the militants in the settled areas of KP.
However, still there are groups that are either operating from the tribal and settled areas or across the border in Afghanistan to pose a serious threat to law and order in Pakistan in general and Peshawar in particular.
