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Pakistan continues to serve as safe haven for regionally-focused terrorist groups: US report

WION Web Team
WashingtonUpdated: Jun 25, 2020, 08:23 AM IST
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Representative Image. Photograph:(Zee News Network)

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The report stated that Pakistan has have made no effort to use domestic authorities to prosecute terrorist leaders such as JeM founder Masood Azhar

The US Department of State in its report has said that Pakistan continues to serve as a "safe haven" for certain "regionally-focused terrorist groups."

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"Pakistan continued to serve as a safe haven for certain regionally-focused terrorist groups. It allowed groups targeting Afghanistan, including the Afghan Taliban and affiliated HQN, as well as groups targeting India, including LeT and its affiliated front organizations, and JeM, to operate from its territory," the report stated.

The report asserted that Pakistan’s efforts towards counter-terrorism  "remains unfulfilled".

"Pakistan’s progress on the most difficult aspects of its 2015 National Action Plan to counter terrorism remains unfulfilled – specifically its pledge to dismantle all terrorist organizations without delay and discrimination."

"While Pakistani authorities indicted LeT co-founder Hafiz Saeed and 12 of his associates on December 11, they have made no effort to use domestic authorities to prosecute other terrorist leaders such as JeM founder Masood Azhar and Sajid Mir, the mastermind of LeT’s 2008 Mumbai attacks, both of whom are widely believed to reside in Pakistan under the protection of the state, despite government denials," the report said.

Two years ago the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had placed Pakistan on its "grey list" and had directed the country to take steps by September 2019 to address the terrorism issue.