FATF: Pulwama attack material procured from e-commerce portals
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Tuesday red-flagged the role of digital technologies in perpetrating terror attacks across jurisdictions, saying materials deployed in the 2019 Pulwama attack were procured from e-commerce platforms.
In a report — Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks — released today, the FATF revealed terrorists’ persistent ability to exploit the international financial system to support their activities and carry out attacks.
“While many jurisdictions have taken important steps to address terrorist financing (TF), the report finds that 69% of jurisdictions assessed by the FATF and the Global Network exhibited major or structural deficiencies in effectively investigating, prosecuting and convicting TF cases,” states the document, which includes case studies spanning over 10 years to assess factors influencing TF risks. The report has contributions from more than 80 jurisdictions, including India.
It documents the use of e-commerce platforms in the procurement of materials for the 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack in India and says: “India’s authorities concluded that the attack was orchestrated by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Investigations revealed the cross-border movement of a large quantity of explosives into India. A key component of the improvised explosive device used in the attack— aluminum powder — was procured through Amazon.”
The FATF said the material was used to enhance the impact of the blast.
The report further documents India’s experience that “ISIL or al-Qaida inspired individuals can use storage of gold or jewellery for small funds, either keeping assets themselves or having relatives hiding it”.
The report also cites the April 3, 2022, lone actor terrorist attack on the Gorakhnath temple in UP.
“Influenced by ISIL’s ideology, the attack was detected during the breach attempt, leading to immediate arrest. The case was transferred to the Uttar Pradesh ATS, who uncovered ISIL influence through forensic analysis of individual’s cell phone,” it stated.
The report further noted that the financial investigation revealed that individual transferred Rs 6.69 lakh ($7,685) via PayPal to foreign countries in support of ISIL, using international third-party transactions and using VPN services to obscure the IP address. He also received Rs 10,323 ($188) from a foreign source.”
In the Gorakhnath temple attack, both online payment services and VPN were used.
India