Summary: Congressional Research Report-Pakistani Terror

Congressional Research Report-Pakistani Terror

Surendra Ullal

Domestic Militancy and Terrorism Financing Pakistan remains a haven for numerous Islamist extremist and terrorist groups, many designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations under U.S. law.

The Pakistani governments have tolerated and even supported some of these as proxies in Islamabad’s historical tensions and conflicts with its neighbors, according to U.S. government reporting. The United States continues to urge Pakistan to take “decisive and irreversible action” against “externally-focused militant groups and UN-designated terrorist organizations operating from its territory.” Incidents of domestic terrorism are much decreased since the Pakistan Army launched major operations in 2014. However, externally-oriented terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and JeM continue to operate, by some accounts supported by state elements.

Analysts also warn of a local resurgence of the Pakistani Taliban (aka the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan), as well as new recruitment by Al Qaeda and Islamic State networks. Terrorist financing networks in Pakistan have come under scrutiny. In mid-2018, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) returned Pakistan to its “Gray List” of countries found to have “strategic deficiencies” in countering money laundering and terrorist financing, where it had been from 2012 to 2015. The status blemishes the country’s international financial standing. In June 2021, FATF assessed that Pakistan had met 26 of 27 “action item” conditions while leaving the country’s status unchanged.  The report can be accessed here – https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11270

Comment: Hopefully, the Liberals, Leftists & the”Human” Rights advocates woke up in time to help correct the Pakistani Army/ISI’s CRIMINAL deeds prior to the near-certain disintegration of this most dangerous Terroriststate in recent memory.