Now, ‘banned’ Jamaat-ud-Dawa attempts to forcibly occupy Lahore mosque

LAHORE - Activists of the banned terror group Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), considered the front face of Lashkar-e-Toiba, have reportedly tried to forcibly occupy a mosque in Lahore.

According to eyewitnesses, the JuD activists want to occupy the Jamia Masjid Osama bin Zaid in Nishtar Colony, which is under the administration of people belonging to the Ahle Hadith school of thought.

They also said that the group attacked the residents to take control of the mosque, The Daily Times reports.

The residents of the area have alleged that the police were backing the attackers.

Earlier, the group was seen providing relief to Pakistan’s flood victims despite a ban from the United Nations.

JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid said that the organisation had sent 10-truck loads of relief goods and nine medical teams to affected areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Our teams have evacuated up to 20,000 people from the worst-hit districts of Malakand, Charsadda, Nowshera and Peshawar,” Mujahid said.

JuD was also providing hot dinners to those who were stranded. “We have around 2,000 volunteers working in the affected regions,” he said.

The group, which usually can be seen spewing venom against the US and its policies, had even requested Washington to help Pakistan in this crisis.

“Everyone should be digging in for humanity’s sake, and we shouldn’t be politicizing the matter. We aren’t reaching out with an agenda in mind. The whole world should be putting in aid, America or whoever else, and we want everyone to contribute,” Mujahid said. (ANI)