CRS identifies Pak as base for terrorists operating in India, Afghanistan

Washington, Dec 18 (ANI): A new report by the US-based Congressional Research Service (CRS) has identified Pakistan as a base for terrorist groups and their supporters who are operating in Jammu and Kashmir, and Afghanistan.

Since 2003, the report notes, Pakistan Army has conducted "unprecedented and largely ineffectual counter-terrorism operations" in FATA where al Qaeda operatives and pro-Taliban insurgents are said to enjoy a 'safe haven'.

Militant groups have only grown stronger and more aggressive in 2008, the report adds.

Heightened militant activity in Pakistan carries an increased potential for major attacks against the United States, a growing threat to Pakistan's own stability and a hindrance to US efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.

The report "Islamist insurgency in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region and US policy" authored by Alan Kronstadt and Kenneth Katzman points out that while top US officials have praised Pakistan for its ongoing co-operation, although long-held doubts exist about Islamabad's commitment to some core US interests.

According to the authors, the upsurge of militant activity on the Pakistan side of the border is harming the US-led stabilisation mission in Afghanistan.

US commanders in Afghanistan attribute much of the deterioration in security conditions in the south and east over the past year to increased militant infiltration from Pakistan, the Daily Times quoted the authors, as saying.

US policymakers are putting in place a series of steps to try to address the deficiencies of the Afghan government and other causes of support for Afghan Taliban militants, but they are also undertaking substantial new security measures to stop the infiltration.

"A key, according to US commanders, is to reduce militant infiltration into Afghanistan from Pakistan. To do so, US General David McKiernan, the overall commander in Afghanistan, is 'redefining' the Afghan battlefield to include the Pakistan border regions, and US forces are becoming somewhat more aggressive in trying to disrupt, from the Afghan side of the border, militant operational preparations and encampments on the Pakistani side of the border." (ANI)