Jamaat-ud-Dawah says will continue its activities despite ban in Pakistan

Lahore: Unfazed by a ban imposed on it by the Pakistan government, Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawah said it will continue its "welfare" activities across the country.

"The foreign office has been issuing statements against JuD on the pressure of the United States in order to please India," JuD spokesman Yaha Mujahid said.

"The JuD will continue preaching and welfare activities throughout the country," the spokesman said.

Facing intense international pressure, Pakistan banned JuD and the Afghan-based dreaded Haqqani Network along with other terror outfits and slapped foreign travel restrictions on the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Saeed.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam confirmed the ban at her weekly news conference in Islamabad.

"The issue of imposing restrictions on the JuD has already been pending in the superior courts of Pakistan. The Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court had already issued verdicts in favour of JuD's functioning in the country," the JuD spokesman said in a statement.

He said the courts made it clear that "there had been no ban or restriction on the JuD in continuing its welfare activities in Pakistan."

The move to ban JuD has come amid international pressure on Pakistan to stop making a distinction between good and bad militants after Taliban gunmen stormed an army-run school in Peshawar and killed 150 people, including 136 students, last month.

India has repeatedly demanded Pakistan to hand over Saeed for questioning over his role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that claimed 166 lives.