WASHINGTON – The annual US report on terrorism acknowledged on Thursdaythat Pakistan took steps in 2020 to counter terrorism financing, restrainIndia-focused militant groups and to meet demands of the Financial ActionTask Force (FATF).
Pakistan continued to experience terrorist attacks last year, said thereport. Pakistani military and security forces undertook counterterrorismoperations against groups that conducted attacks within Pakistan, such asthe banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the militant Islamic State(IS) group and Balochistan Liberation Army.
“Pakistan took steps in 2020 to counter terror financing and restrainIndia-focused militant groups from conducting attacks. Pakistan convictedLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and four other senior LeT leadersin multiple terrorism financing cases,” the report said.
Although the report acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts to counter terrorism,it claimed that groups targeting Afghanistan and India — such as theHaqqani Network, LeT, and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) — continued to operatefrom Pakistani territory.
“Pakistan did not take action against other known terrorists such as JeMfounder and UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar and 2008 Mumbai attack‘project manager’ Sajid Mir, both of whom are believed to remain free inPakistan,” the report added.
But it also acknowledged that “Pakistan did make positive contributions tothe Afghanistan peace process, such as encouraging Taliban reductions inviolence”.
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Noting Pakistan’s efforts to meet the demands put forth by FATF, the reportnoted: “Pakistan made additional progress in 2020 toward completing itsFATF Action Plan, but did not complete all Action Plan items and remainedon the FATF ‘grey list’.”
In a separate chapter titled “Support for Pakistan”, the report said the USgovernment recognised Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and broader regionalsecurity, and “urges Pakistan to dismantle terrorist groups within itsterritory”.
Despite the restriction, however, the US government maintained a civilianassistance portfolio on a focused set of priorities, the report added.“Civilian assistance continued to prioritise civil society;people-to-people exchanges; stabilisation and development on theAfghanistan-Pakistan border; trade and economic growth.”