Pakistan Ulema Council condemns IS group

ISLAMABAD: A leading group of Pakistani religious leaders has condemned the Islamic State organization, amid concerns the hard-line extremists could gain a foothold in the state.
The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) said the IS group, which has declared a “caliphate” in areas it controls in Iraq and Syria, was violating Islamic teaching.
The movement, also known as ISIS, has has committed widespread atrocities in territory under its rule, including mass executions, beheadings and forcing women and girls into slavery.
“Islam and Muslims cannot support the killing of innocent people and destruction of their properties at the hands of the ISIS,” the PUC said in a statement.
“The PUC... appeals to people and youth in Islamic countries to not cooperate with any violent group whose teachings or actions are against the teachings of Islam.”
The PUC call comes as fears grow in Pakistan that the violent call of the IS group could find recruits among the country’s myriad of Islamist militant groups.
Pakistan has suffered years of bloody attacks at the hands of homegrown militants.
Leaflets supporting the IS organization have been seen in some parts of the northwest, the heartland of groups like the Pakistani Taleban.
The Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) vowed earlier this month to send fighters to support IS militants but stopped short of pledging allegiance to the organization’s leader.
PUC chief Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, in a separate statement, blamed “heinous atrocities” committed by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the discrimination against people on sectarian grounds in Iraq for creating environment that allowed the IS group to flourish.
“These are the factors due to which organizations such as ISIS are formed and gain popularity among the public,” Ashrafi said.