Britain set to ban Pakistani Taliban

The United Kingdom on Tuesday moved to ban Pakistan-based Tehrik-e-Taliban as a terrorist group, weeks after intelligence reports stated that the outfit was planning to carry out Mumbai-style attacks in the country and mainland Europe.

The order moved in British Parliament will make the membership of Pakistani Taliban and raising funds for the organisation in the United Kingdom a criminal offence.

Home Secretary Theresa May introduced the order in Parliament for its approval. The order will ban the Pakistani Taliban under the British Terrorism Act.

"I have laid an order which will proscribe Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Proscription is a tough but necessary power to tackle terrorism and is not a course of action we take lightly," she said.

Tehrik-e-Taliban, a Pakistani terrorist group closely aligned to the Al Qaeda, is based in the north-western part of the country and has carried out a large number of attacks in Pakistan.

"Proscription means that the membership of Tehrik-e-Taliban will become a criminal offence and the organisation will not be able to lawfully operate in UK, or raise funds in the country," the British minister said.

The proposed order will be debated in Parliament later this week and approved.

Forty six militant groups, including Al Qaeda, which are deemed by the British government to be international terrorist organisations, are banned under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The move comes after British security and intelligence agencies carried out countrywide swoops to foil terror plots in the country. Last year, the Pakistani Taliban had threatened to carry out fresh terror attacks in UK, the United States and Europe.