In another report which unmasks Pakistan as a hub of many of the most dreaded terrorist organizations, the latest US Congressional report has inferred the country to be the home to at least 12 groups of 'foreign terrorist organizations'. According to the independent Congressional Research Service (CRS), US officials have classified Pakistan as a staging ground or target for various armed and non-state terrorist organizations, some of which have operated since the 1980s.
In the report that was released on the eve of the historic Quad summit in the US last week by the bipartisan research wing of the US Congress, the terror groups operating in Pakistan can be broadly classified into five types: globally oriented, Afghanistan oriented, India and Kashmir oriented, domestically oriented, and sectarian (anti-Shia). The (LET) is a Pakistani terrorist group that was founded in the late 1980s and was identified as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in 2001.
'Terrorist organisation conducted major attacks against India'
The report highlighted, "LeT was responsible for major 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, as well as numerous other high-profile attacks." Moreover, it further went on to add that Masood Azhar, a Kashmiri terrorist leader, created Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) in 2000, and it was recognized as an FTO in 2001. It was responsible for the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, as well as subsequent attacks, alongside LeT.
Notably, this is not the first time Pakistan has been explicitly named by the US Congressional report. A US State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism 2019, also underlined that Pakistan has "continued to serve as a safe haven for certain regionally-focused terrorist groups," and has "allowed groups targeting Afghanistan as well as groups targeting India to operate from its territory."
The report also added that after the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, Pakistan's government took "minimal actions" to combat terrorism financing and "restrain" some India-focused terrorist groups. However, it stated that "Islamabad has yet to take decisive actions against terrorists with a focus on India and Afghanistan."
