Pakistan Took Steps To Restrain Anti-India Militant Groups in 2020: US Report

However, terrorist groups targeting Afghanistan and India continue to operate from Pakistani territory.

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) founder Masood Azhar (in pic) and Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) Sajid Mir, the masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, remain free in the country, the report added.

(Photo: Reuters)

Pakistan took steps in 2020 to counter terror financing and restrain India-focused militant groups from conducting attacks, however, terrorist groups targeting Afghanistan and India continued to operate from Pakistani territory, a report filed by the United States (US) Department of State has said.

However, Pakistan did not take action against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) founder Masood Azhar and Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) Sajid Mir, the masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, both of whom remain free in the country, the report added.

"Pakistan took steps in 2020 to counter terror financing and restrain India-focused militant groups from conducting attacks. Pakistan convicted Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and four other senior LeT leaders in multiple terrorism financing cases," the Country Reports on Terrorism 2020, released on Thursday, 16 December, by the US Department of State, said.

"Regionally, however, terrorist groups continued to operate from Pakistan. Groups targeting Afghanistan — including the Afghan Taliban and affiliated HQN, as well as groups targeting India, including LeT and its affiliated front organizations, and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) — continued to operate from Pakistani territory. Pakistan did not take action against other known terrorists such as JeM founder and UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar and 2008 Mumbai attack "project manager" Sajid Mir, both of whom are believed to remain free in Pakistan," it added.

The report, however, added that Pakistan did make positive contributions to the Afghanistan peace process, such as encouraging Taliban reductions in violence. "Pakistan made additional progress in 2020 toward completing its Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Action Plan, but did not complete all Action Plan items, and remained on the FATF “gray list.”

'Indian Govt Made Significant Efforts To Degrade Operations of Militant Outfits Within Its Borders'

Talking about India, the report said that in 2020, terrorism affected the "Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), in northeastern India, and Maoist-affected parts of central India", however, the Indian government made significant efforts to "detect, disrupt, and degrade the operations of terrorist organizations within its borders".

"Major terrorist groups that have been active in India include Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, ISIS, al-Qa'ida in the Indian Subcontinent, and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen. The Indian government made significant efforts to detect, disrupt, and degrade the operations of terrorist organizations within its borders. Indian forces arrested several members of al-Qa'ida ally Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind in J&K," the report said.

"Although insurgent groups operate in India's northeastern states, levels of terrorist violence there are low and decreasing. The many organizations involved in the Sikh separatist (Khalistan) movement have not engaged in significant recent activities within India's borders," it added.