E-comm platforms, online payments services being abused for terror financing: FATF

GLOBAL terror financing watchdog FATF on Tuesday cited the February 2019 Pulwama terror attack, which killed 40 CRPF personnel, and the 2022 Gorakhnath Temple incident to say that e-commerce platforms and onliné payment services are being misused for terror financing.

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In its ‘Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks’, the FATF also flagged 'state sponsorship of terrorism’ and said a variety of publicly available sources of information and delegations’ inputs to this report indicate that "certain terrorist organisations have been and continue to receive financial and other forms of support from several national governments".

"Delegations reported on this trend by referring to the use of state sponsorship for TF (terror financing) either as fundraising technique or as part of the financial management strategy of the certain organisations engaging in terrorist acts. Several forms of support have been reported, including direct financial support, logistical and material support, or the provision of training,” the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)said.

In June, the FATE, while condemning the April 2025, Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people killed, and saying such attacks would not have been possible without financial support, had said it would come out with a "comprehensive analysis of terrorist financing", compiling cases provided by its global network consisting 200 jurisdictions.

Giving the case study of use of ecommerce platform for procurement of materials for terrorist attack in India, the FATF said a key component of the improvised explosive device used in the attack -- aluminum powder -- was procured through the EPOM Amazon. This material was used to enhance the impact of the blast.