US Calls Pakistan a Safe Haven for Terrorist Group

In the Country Report on Terrorism – 2029, the United States’ State Department has said that Pakistan continued to be a safe haven for terrorist groups.

The report points out that Pakistan continues to allow groups targeting India and those targeting Afghanistan to operate from its soil. Among the India-centric groups, the report listed Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM) and their affiliates and front organizations. Among the groups targeting Afghanistan it listed the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network. The report notes that Pakistan took some modest steps in 2019 to check terror financing and to restrain some anti-India militant groups following the Pulwama terror attacks in February. However, the south Asian nation is yet to take decisive actions against India and Afghanistan-focused militants that would effectively undermine their operational capability.

Though the report praises the Pakistani government for playing a 'constructive' role in the US-Taliban talks in 2019 it makes it clear that Pakistan’s progress on the most difficult aspects of its 2015 National Action Plan to counter terrorism remains unfulfilled, especially its pledge to dismantle all terrorist organizations without delay and discrimination.