Pakistan Didn't Take Steps To Prosecute Terrorist Leaders Like Masood Azhar, Sajid Mir: US Report

The United States, in its 'Country Reports on Terrorism 2020', said Pakistan made limited progress to counter terror.

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder Masood Azhar (Reuters file photo)

New Delhi: The United States, in its 'Country Reports on Terrorism 2020', said Pakistan made limited progress to counter terror and didn't take steps to prosecute terrorist leaders such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder Masood Azhar and LeT's Sajid Mir, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The report, released by the US Department of States on Thursday, said, "Pakistan made limited progress on the most difficult aspects of its 2015 National Action Plan to counter terrorism, specifically in its pledge to dismantle all terrorist organizations without delay or discrimination."

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In the October plenary of global terror financing watchdog FATF, Pakistan was retained on the 'grey list' over its lack of progress on investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups.

The report also noted that on April 2, the Sindh High Court overturned the 2002 convictions of Omar Sheikh and three co-conspirators for the 2002 kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.  

In its section on India, the US report said security agencies were effective in disrupting terror threats, although gaps remain in inter-agency intelligence and sharing of information. 

The report also said that there were 66 known Indian-origin fighters affiliated with ISIS as of November.

"The Indian government made significant efforts to detect, disrupt, and degrade the operations of terrorist organisations within its borders," the report said. 

"Through the end of September, the NIA had investigated 34 terrorism cases it indicated were related to ISIS and arrested 160 persons," it further said.

Major terrorist groups that have been active in India include Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, ISIS, al-Qa'ida in the Indian Subcontinent, and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, the report said.