Jaish denies reports of its leader joining ranks of clerics

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e Mohammad (JM) has rejected reports that its leader Mufti Abdul Rauf was joining the ranks of radical clerics and madrassa students spearheading a campaign to impose Islamic law in the country.

Rauf's spokesperson Ismael Hamza said in a statement here that such reports contained fundamental flaws and inaccuracies.

The reports had earlier said that Rauf, younger brother of Jaish founder Maulana Masood Azhar, had established a transit camp in Islamabad for its activists in addition to the one at Kohat in Punjab.

They said Rauf had arrived in Islamabad to defend the radical clerics of Lal Masjid and their madrassa students, who are engaged in a campaign to establish Islamic law, in the event of any operation by the security forces.