FATF condemns Pahalgam terror attack, says "this...could not occur without money"

Paris [France], June 16 : The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Monday strongly condemned the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Phalgam that claimed the lives of 26 people, asserting that such incidents "could not occur without money and the means to move funds between terrorist supporters."

In a statement, the FATF, the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, underscored the body's grave concern over the rising tide of terrorism and its focus on dismantling the financial networks that fuel these attacks.

"As terrorism continues to threaten societies and citizens around the world, the FATF supports over 200 jurisdictions within its Global Network to build and enhance their counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) measures, including through the strategic use of financial intelligence - making this one of the most powerful instruments for dismantling terrorist financing networks," the FATF statement noted.

"Terrorist attacks kill, maim and inspire fear around the world. The FATF notes with grave concern and condemns the brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025. This, and other recent attacks, could not occur without money and the means to move funds between terrorist supporters," the statement further read.

In response to these challenges, the FATF has intensified its efforts to assess and improve the effectiveness of CFT measures across its member jurisdictions. Through mutual evaluations, the FATF has identified gaps that need addressing, particularly in the context of emerging threats such as the abuse of social media, crowdfunding, and virtual assets for terrorist financing.

The organisation further stated that it had been working for a decade to help countries stay ahead of these risks, with a comprehensive analysis of terrorist financing cases, alongside a webinar to enhance understanding among the public and private sectors.

"In addition to setting out the framework for combating terrorist financing, the FATF has enhanced its focus on the effectiveness of measures countries have put in place. That is how, through our mutual evaluations, we have identified gaps that need to be addressed. The FATF has developed guidance on terrorist financing risk to support experts that contribute to evaluations of the 200+ jurisdictions in the Global Network," the statement read.

"The FATF has been working for 10 years to help countries stay ahead of terrorist financing risk - for example, relating to abuse of social media, crowdfunding, and virtual assets. To improve this picture, the FATF will soon release a comprehensive analysis of terrorist financing, compiling cases provided by our Global Network. It will also host a webinar to help public and private sectors understand the risks and stay alert to emerging threats," it added.

FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo of Mexico, speaking at the recent No Money for Terror Conference in Munich, reiterated the importance of global unity.

"No single company, authority, or country can combat this challenge alone. We must be unified against the scourge of global terrorism. Because terrorists need to succeed only once to achieve their goal, while we have to succeed every time to prevent it," she stated, emphasising the collective responsibility to curb terrorist financing.

Earlier, during their global outreach programme to showcase India's global stance against terrorism following the terror attack, the all-party delegations had put forward their concern on terror funding by Pakistan and pushed for Pakistan's return to the FATF grey list to curb terror financing.

Greylisting Pakistan by the FATF will limit its access to international loans. Pakistan was included in the grey list in 2018 and removed from it in 2022.

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