Pakistan is a Safe Haven for Terrorist Groups: US Govt Report

The FATF reportedly decided to keep Pak in the “grey list” for failing to check the flow of funds to terror groups.

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Arnica Kala / The Quint)

According to the recently released US State Department 2019 report on counter terrorism, Pakistan continued to serve as a safe haven for regionally focused terrorist groups and allowed groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, that target India, to operate from its territory.

The report released on Wednesday, 24 June, states that aside from harbouring groups targeting India, Pakistan also allowed groups targeting Afghanistan, including the Afghan Taliban and affiliated Haqqani Network to operate from its territory, reported The Economic Times.

Pakistan has “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,” stated the report.

The report said that India "suffered terrorist attacks in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the northeastern Indian states, and parts of central India". Adding that, “India continued to apply sustained pressure to detect, disrupt, and degrade terrorist activities within its borders.” The report mentioned that Washington and New Delhi increased counter-terrorism cooperation.

The report, however, does acknowledge that "Pakistan took modest steps in 2019 to counter terror financing and to restrain some India-focused militant groups following the February attack on a security convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir claimed by Pakistan-based JeM."

‘Pakistan to Remain on FATF Grey List’

The Financial Action Task Force on Wednesday, 24 June, reportedly decided to keep Pakistan in the “grey list” for failing to check the flow of funds to terror groups. An official decision on the same is yet to be announced. 

During the FATF meeting in February 2020, Pakistan had been told that “all deadlines” had expired and if they didn’t prosecute and penalise terrorist financing by June 2020, the watchdog would take action with financial consequences, reported The Indian Express.

Reports on the global terrorist financing watchdog’s alleged decision emerged on the same day that US State Department filed a report stating that Islamabad had failed to keep its word on ending the hosting of all terrorist groups.