A notification was released to the authorities of all four provinces in this regard, including Gilgit and Baltistan governments.

The banned organizations are Shia Talba Tanzeem, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat, formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba, and Karachi-based Peoples Aman Committee, an enforcer wing of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Tehreek-e-Naujawan Ahle-Sunnat Gilgit.

This move has come after the killing of 18 Shias after being removed from a bus by gunmen dressed in military uniforms.

Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik, claimed that suspects have been arrested involed in the Kohistan massacre, and added further that a big scale operation in the area would help in eradicating these extremists.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2012