US places Lashkar in five Pakistan-based most 'dangerous bad guy groups'

Islamabad, Aug 14 (ANI): The terror group responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Lashkar-e-Toiba, has been put in "five Pakistan-based most" dangerous bad guy groups, who pose a serious threat to the war against terror in Afghanistan, according to a top US official.

"Of course, Afghanistan and Pakistan have always been closely related. From the day Pakistan became independent, they've had a bad relationship," US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard C. Holbrooke told PBS in an interview.

"And now, we're in a situation where the sanctuary for the Taliban in Pakistan poses the most serious of all hurdles to our objectives in Afghanistan, and also endangers our national security," he added.

Holbrooke described Al Qaeda as the main US enemy lurking "across the border in the tribal areas of Pakistan," whereas "there are about five of our most dangerous bad guy groups all grouped in this area in Pakistan where the floods are going on now."

Besides Al Qaeda, the other bad boys he identified were the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban and the infamous Haqqani group, The Nation reports.

"All based in Pakistan and they're all based in an area roughly the size of California in the tribal areas," Holbrooke said stressing the need "to retain the residual capability to strike at these groups while we build up the Afghan security forces" as the US draws down in Afghanistan.

He said Pakistan and other countries, particularly India and China, have legitimate security interests in Afghanistan. (ANI)