The banned charities, which are linked to mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed, pose a grave challenge to Pakistan and still remain functional. Pakistan, last week, banned two charities linked to Saeed.


According to a media report, the vast network of Islamist charities taken over by the Pakistani Government includes a horse-breeding stable, a fleet of trucks, a swimming academy, martial arts classes and thousands of staff and volunteers.


However, the sheer scale and diversity of the charities founded by Saeed will pose a huge challenge for Pakistan. It would be difficult for the government to run, track and control the funding and source of income of the banned charities.


"We're still collecting details about the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facilities which have been taken over. Our financial strategists are in consultation with the federal government to prepare a plan to run these facilities," a spokesman for the Punjab provincial government, Malik Mohammad Ahmad Khan said.


Islamabad hopes that by seizing control on JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) charities, which the US has termed as terrorist fronts, it can avoid itself being included on a global watchlist of the country, that has been long criticised by others to be doing very little to curb militant financing and terrorism.