UAE bans five Pakistan-based outfits among 86 terror groups; Indian Mujahideen, Muslim Brotherhood also banned

The UAE has come out with a list of 86 banned terror outfits that has five Pakistan-based groups, including the dreaded Haqqani network and the LeT.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Cabinet yesterday announced the names of 86 extremist groups that also include al-Qaeda, responsible for 9/11 attacks in the US, and the Pakistani Taliban among others, the state-run WAM news agency reported. The Muslim Brotherhood and its local affiliates have also been named on the list.

The list comes after an anti-terror law was issued by President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The law authorises the government to issue a list of groups designated by the UAE as terrorist organisations, which makes it a criminal offence for any individual or group that communicates with them, engage in their activities, or provide support by any means. The law empowers to award death penalty if the terrorist act has been carried out.

The Nusra Front and the Islamic State, whose fighters are battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have also been named on the list by the UAE. Pakistan-based groups Jeish Muhammad, the East Turkestan movement in Pakistan, Haqqani network and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), have also been included in the list.

Since its inception, the LeT has been focused on carrying out major terrorist attacks inside India. LeT claimed responsibility for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed at least 166 people. Indian Mujahideen, which had claimed responsibility for the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts, is also on the list.

Other prominent terror groups on the list are Al Islah Association and Hezbollah in GCC countries.

UAE authorities had launched a crackdown on members of al-Islah and jailed scores of Islamists convicted of forming an illegal branch of the Brotherhood.