LeT continues to plan regional attacks from within Pak: US

Washington, Aug 19: The United States has said that the Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attacks, is continuing to plot terror attacks in the region from within Pakistan.

Expressing concern over continued presence of terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan, the US State Department in its annual report on terrorism asked Pakistan to take action against the group and its other frontal organisation.

"Despite international condemnation for its November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT) continued to plan regional operations from within Pakistan. While the Government of Pakistan has banned LeT, the United States continued to urge further action against this group and its front organizations," the State Department said.

"The potential for WMD trafficking and proliferation remained of concern in Pakistan due to the porous borders and the difficult security situation. Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance (EXBS) has enabled Pakistani officials to gain expertise in properly classifying items of proliferation concern and learn about export licensing best practices," it said.

Despite efforts by Pakistani security forces, al-Qaeda terrorists, Afghan militants, foreign insurgents, and Pakistani militants continued to find safe haven in portions of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khyber Paktunkhwa (KPK), and Baluchistan, the report said.

"AQ and other groups such as the Haqqani Network used Pakistani safe havens to launch attacks in Afghanistan, plan operations worldwide, train, recruit, and disseminate propaganda," it said.

PTI