'No safe haven': Pakistan rejects US report on Taliban, Haqqani network

[Kabira]

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan rejected on Thursday the US State Department’sannual assessment that it did not take substantial action against the Afghan Taliban or Haqqani network or limit their ability to threaten US interests in Afghanistan.

“We have taken indiscriminate and all out action against terrorists,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria told reporters during his weekly press briefing, while reacting to the US State Department’s annual “Country Reports on Terrorism.”

In the report, the US accused Pakistan of providing ‘safe haven’ to terrorists, saying the country had not taken any substantial action against the Haqqani network of Afghan Taliban.

The report said while terrorist-related violence declined in Pakistan for the second straight year in 2016, terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) continued to operate, train, organise and fundraise inside the country.

The State Department admitted al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan was seriously degraded as a result of Pakistan Army’s continued offensive against the terror group’s presence in North Waziristan, successfully restricting its freedom to operate in the region.

Afghanistan’s claim on Khyber-4 ‘unwarranted’

The report, however, said Afghanistan experienced aggressive and coordinated attacks by the Afghan Taliban, including the Haqqani network and other insurgent groups, claiming a number of such attacks had been planned and launched from ‘safe havens’ in Pakistan.

Zakaria contested the claim, insisting that most of the militants fled to Afghanistan after Pakistan’s successful operation in the tribal areas.

“As is evident from the statistics and media reports available, a considerable number of leaders and senior commanders of the Haqqani network and other terrorists have been killed inside Afghanistan,” he said, rebutting charges that the deadliest militant outfit was operating in Pakistan.

“Our efforts have been met with success, and acknowledged by a number of countries, including the US. Various delegations, who came to Pakistan from US and other countries, have visited the affected areas, which we successfully cleansed from terrorism,” the spokesperson maintained.

On the Trump administration’s policy review on Afghanistan, Zakaria said the process was yet to complete. “We will only be able to comment once the contents of review are shared with us,” he added.

Regarding the proposed bill seeking tough restrictions on Pakistan, Zakaria said the bill was still under legislative process, therefore, it would be premature to comment on it.

“However, Pakistan-US cooperation in diverse areas are longstanding. As far as our role in the context of peace in Afghanistan is concerned, Pakistan’s position is clear. Pakistan wants to see peace and stability in Afghanistan, which we firmly believe is in its interest.”
https://tribune.com.pk/story/146253...an-rejects-us-report-taliban-haqqani-network/

 

[Turingsage]

India welcomes US move to list Pakistan among nations providing ‘safe havens’ to terrorists
India says US State Department’s Country Report on Terrorism vindicated India’s long-held view that Pakistan was providing safe havens for terrorists on its soil

Elizabeth Roche

The Trump administration had designated Syed Salahuddin as a terrorist coinciding with Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House last month. Photo: PTI
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In a blow to Pakistan late Wednesday, the US State Department’s Country Report said that terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) continued to operate, train, organise and raise resources inside Pakistan in 2016.

The report uses language like “safe havens” used in previous reports but it does boost India’s diplomatic claims that Pakistan is turning a blind eye to terror groups based on its soil that are targeting India.

India has seen three major attacks on its military installations in Pathakot, Uri and Nagrota last year—all blamed on the LeT and the JeM—and New Delhi has been pushing Pakistan to take action against these groups operating from its soil.



It comes after a meeting between US president Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House last month. The Trump administration had designated Syed Salahuddin as a terrorist coinciding with the visit.

The annual report, which is mandated by the US Congress, also said that Pakistani military and security forces cracked down on terrorist groups that carried out attacks within Pakistan such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

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But “Pakistan did not take substantial action against the Afghan Taliban or Haqqani, or substantially limit their ability to threaten US interests in Afghanistan, although Pakistan supported efforts to bring both groups into an Afghan-led peace process,” the State Department said.

India, it noted, continued to experience attacks, “including by Maoist insurgents and Pakistan-based terrorists”.

Indian authorities continued to blame Pakistan for cross-border attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, the report said.

“In January, India experienced a terrorist attack against an Indian military facility in Pathankot, Punjab, which was blamed by authorities on JeM. Over the course of 2016, the Government of India sought to deepen counterterrorism cooperation and information sharing with the United States,” the State Department said.

In a separate chapter, the State Department listed Pakistan as one of the safe havens of terrorism. Many terrorist groups, including the Haqqani Network (HQN), the LeT and JeM continued to operate from Pakistani soil in 2016, it said.

“Although the LeT is banned in Pakistan, the LeT’s wings—the Jammat ud Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FiF)—were able to openly engage in fundraising, including in the capital,” it said.

“LeT’s chief Hafiz Saaed (a UN-designated terrorist) continued to address large rallies, although in February 2017, Pakistan proscribed him under relevant provisions of Schedule Four of the Anti-Terrorism Act, thus severely restricting his freedom of movement,” it noted.

“Progress remained slow on regulating madrassas, blocking extremist messaging, empowering the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), cutting off terrorist financing, and strengthening the judicial system,” it said.

The Indian government continued to closely monitor the domestic threat from transnational terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), which made threats against India in their terrorist propaganda. A number of individuals were arrested for ISIS-affiliated recruitment and attack plotting within India, the report said.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/Z5...ve-to-list-Pakistan-among-nations-provid.html

 

[Solomon2]

It's unclear from the news story whether the spokesman considers the Haqqani group terrorists or not.

 

[YeBeWarned]

the word is Non State Actors .. we don't Arm and Support Terrorist like Red blue and white flag do

 

[mdcp]

Who is supporting baraham dagh bugti, altaf hussain and other terrorists who killed thousands of innocent Pakistanis.

The response from our forces in this regard is insult to our martyrs and we must expose these hypocrites and tell them like erodgan does